Description
Total Quality Management / TQM is an integrative philosophy of management for continuously improving the quality of products and processes
02.06.2006
MASTER THESIS
Total Quality Management - Aspects of Implementation and Human Resource
Niels Brynnum Master Business Administration Thesis
Blekinge Institute Of Technology
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
Acknowledgements
The present thesis was carried out at the Blekinge Institute of Technology. During the completion of this thesis, I have received generous support from a number of people who in different ways have contributed to the completion of this academic assignment.
First I would like to thank my supervisor in the Grundfos Group, Jørgen Kristiansen and all the staff in the Grundfos Group. Their support and comments have been of inestimable value throughout my work. I would also like to thank the staff at Blekinge Institute of Technology and especially Anders Hederstierna for a very educational and well organized MBA program. Furthermore thanks to the University Libraries of Aarhus and Aalborg for their large effort and support. And finally, I would like to thank Heidi and our Frederikke Olivia for their support, love and patience throughout my studies.
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
Title
Total Quality Management – Aspects of Implementation and Human Resource.
Author
Niels Brynnum.
Supervisor
Anders Hederstierna.
Department
School of Management, Blekinge Institute of Technology.
Course
Master’s Thesis in Business Administration, 10 credits.
Problem Discussion
Total quality management has become a frequently used term in discussions concerning quality. The international and national competitive environment is in a proces of constant change by the globalisation of markets and increased interdependence of economic agents. This process of change has brought increased demands on the organizations compettiveness and the customers have gained a central role in the organizations focus. Total quality management is considered to be an important management philosophy, which supports the organizations in their efforts to obtain satisfied customers. However traditional work practice and management attitudes does not conform with total quality management, which could cause a resistance towards an implementation of total quality management.
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
Purpose
The overall aim of this thesis is to study the role and the aspects of the human resource department tasks in regards to an implementation of total quality management.
Methodology
The research methodologies of the thesis will include a combination of a theoretical analysis through a critical perspective to the total quality management literature and an empirical study of the human resource managements role in an implementation of total quality management. The research can be divided into two overaching phases: The first phase, the critical investigation of the literature and a second phase, the case study of Grundfos Group. The first phase of the thesis serves as an investigation of the literature of total quality management and as preparatory for the study in the second phase. The second phase serves as an empirical study of the strategic human resource role in the implementation of total quality management. The data presented were collected both from primary and secondary sources. The primarily sources were retrieved through interviews, internal documents and annual reports from the Grundfos Group.The secondary sources were retrieved from books, files, journals, former investigations and magazines. The case study has been chosen because The Grundfos Group represent a large international company with a human resource department, who has experienced an implementation of total quality management.
Delimitations
The author has, based upon the overall aims, made the following delimitations for the reseach accounted for in this thesis: • • The qualitative investigation, with the objective to reveal the implications and the potential problems is limited due to the critical perspective of total quality managenment. The quantitative study in this thesis are limited as its based upon a single organization, i.e The Grundfos Group. Thus, its findings cannot be generalized.
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
Theory Research questions
Through a critical perspective to the literature of total quality management. 1. What implications are there in building a quality culture ? 2. What potential problems could arise due to an implementation ?
Analysis Research questions
In context to the implementation of total quality management in the Grundfos Group. 3. What strategic role did the human resource management play in the implementation ?
Conclusion
The theoretical analysis reveals the implications there are in building a quality cuture. The analyze implies that builing a quality culture would require a matching human resource strategy, which would involve the human resource management, the organizations way of working as well as the human resource policies and practices. In context to this, was it furthermore argued that the literature of total quality management often have a hidden implicit agenda, which call upon a topdown method for the implementation of total quality management. This could underestimate the difficulties, there are in gaining a commitment to continuous improvements in the current pluralistic industrial relation culture. The empirical analysis in the Grundfos Group reveals the different roles of the human resource management and shows that the implementation of total quality management has posed quite a lot of human resource challenges to human resource employees such as, motivating knowledge workers, obtaining employees satisfaction, overcoming communication barriers, solving problems associated with vastness of the organization.
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
Table of Contents
1. 1.1 1.2 1.3 2. 2.1 3. 3.1 4. 4.1 5. 5.1 5.2 6. 6.1 7. 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 8. 8.1 8.2 8.3
Introduction......................................................................................... 1
Definitions of Total Quality Management.......................................................... 3 Emerging Problems............................................................................................. 7 Research Questions ............................................................................................. 8
The Research Area and Theoretical Context....................................... 9
Total Quality Management and Organization Culture ....................................... 9
Strategic Human Resource Management .......................................... 12
Organization Strategy ....................................................................................... 13
Human Resource Management ......................................................... 14
Human Resource Perspective and W. E. Deming Perspective ......................... 17
Work Environment and Job Design .......................................................... 19
Employee Involvement ..................................................................................... 21 The Labour Unions ........................................................................................... 23
The HR Department in Total Quality Management.......................... 24
Total Quality Management and the Future HR Department ............................ 28
Case Study of the Role of HR Management........................................... 30
Facts about the Grundfos Group ....................................................................... 30 The Grundfos Group Mission and Vision......................................................... 31 Quality in the Grundfos Group ......................................................................... 32 Milestones for the Total Quality Management Process.................................... 34
The Role of the Human Resource Department ...................................... 35
The HR Deparment Support to Other Departments.......................................... 42 The HR Department as Internal Consultants .................................................... 43 The HR Challenges Associated with Total Quality Management.................... 43
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
9. 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5
General Conclusion ...................................................................................... 46
Implications in Building a Quality Culture....................................................... 47 Potential Problems due to an Implementation .................................................. 48 The strategic role of the human resource management .................................... 48 Final Discussion and Implications for Research............................................... 49 Authors Perspective .......................................................................................... 49 Appendices Tables Figures References
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1. Introduction
Developments in products, technologies, laws have called for Danish industrial companies to search for new strategies and structures. Decreasing markets, increasing demands, and changed customer attitudes, regulations, as well as the growing global competition in recent years, make up the causes of change in the markets Danish industrial companies are competing on. Consequently, a great many organizations focus on products for niche markets instead of selling standard mass products.
Product and service quality are ranked high, private and public companies providing quality certificates and total quality management deriving from this development. (Wilkinson, 1998). Others have expressed the quality development as the end of mass and the start of a new production paradigm, based upon flexible specialization (Piore and Sabel, 1984). In view of the prevailing trend, increased product quality and a higher degree of liability towards customers no longer remain a mere possibility but are essential if market shares are to be retained and further developed.
Business Week (1997) ” for the nineteenth century and many years to come may quality have the largest priority in all organizations”
According to Oakland (1993, p. 3), quality management is driven by the competitive environment and is universal for all types of organizations: ”Whatever type of organizations you are working in – a hospital, universities, bank, insurance company, airline company, students, or whatever company you are working in – competition is common: Competition among students, customers, resources etc. Very few organizations do not see quality as a most important element in the battle for competitive advantages.”
The management interest in quality is not new but using quality as a key element in the battle for competitive advantages is of recent date. Oakland (1989) claims that after the industrial revolution, and the computer revolution in the beginning of the 1980’es, we are now in the midst of a quality revolution. Surveys conducted by various organizations have revealed an increase in quality movements. These include the movement best known as total quality management; this has been widely acknowledged as a major innovation in management theory (Ishikawa, 1985).
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The approach to or the philosophy of total quality management is, however, not obvious. Even Deming acknowledged that he did not know what it meant precisely (Boje,1993). There are a number of reasons for this ambiguity. The first problem is to define the concept quality. Secondly, the large variation in activities, practice, and techniques renders it hard to define what total quality management really means. Knutton (1994) claims that even though the introduction of total quality management may be similar in different organizations, organizations may well have very different ways of working with total quality management.
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1.1 Definitions of Total Quality Management
Dean and Bowen (1994) have analyzed the total quality management literature, claiming that the key points of total quality management are those of customer focus, continual improvements, and teamwork. Each of these points will be implemented through a number of practices, like gathering customer items of information and analyzing processes by applying specific quality techniques. Raffio (1993) further includes the involvement of employees as well as management commitment, as basic principles of total quality management while Hart and Bogan (1992) identify the distinction of total quality management as a penetrating customer oriented approach to managing quantity for competitive advantage.
Powell (1995) sees total quality management as a cultural change combined with elements from Deming, Juran, Crosby and the American Baldrige Award, and presents 12 characteristics of total quality management.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
Committed management Adopting and communicating about Total Quality Management Closer customer relations Closer provider relations Benchmarking Increased training Open organization Employee empowerment Zero failure mentality Flexible production Process improvements Process measuring
The British Quality Association (BQA) has three alternative definitions of total quality management. The first focuses on soft qualitative attributes, containing elements such as customer oriented, cultural as advantage, removal of performance barrier, teamwork, training and involvement of employees.
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The second BQA definition comprises production aspects such as systematic measuring and control of the work, setting standards for performance and the use of statistical procedures to achieve quantity. This definition focuses, contrary to the first, on hard quantitative attributes. A similar definition on total quality management is provided by Steingard and Fitzgibbons (1993, p.27-42). They define total quality management as a set of techniques and procedures which should be used to reduce or eliminate variations in production process. The third BQA definition is a mixture of the two previous definitions which provide an acknowledgement of the scientific as well as the humanistic approaches.
Oakland (1993, p.2-3) defines total quality management as the way for the management to improve effectiveness, flexibility, and competitive advantages for the organization as a whole because it complies with the internal and external customer requirements. He sees the essence of the total quality management concept as a triangle, each corner being a key point; the management commitment, statistical process control, and teamwork. In this triangle, the points are connected as a chain but they are also interdependent of one another. Some have argued that the chain could be broken at any of these points by a person or a tool, and therefore fail to meet customer requirements. But according to Oakland (1993), the internal customer focus throughout the chain builds an internal customer environment which will provide compensation if the chain should break. The triangle has management commitment as the height, a position upon which most total quality management theorists would agree.
Even though the explicit definition of total quality management is not obvious, there are some basic principles in total quality management making for a joint approach. Hill and Wilkinson (1995) have identified the principles outlined below:
Customer oriented: Quality means complying with customer requirements; customers are both internal and external, and quality oriented management will need to meet customer requirements. Customer orientation does generate throughout the organization a shared aim for all activities while integrating quality in the design as well as in the specifications. Customer expectations for a design or specifications must be transformed in order that the organization may adapt these expectations to activities required for production. This is accomplished by using a customer perspective because no
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matter how many productions and vast improvement the organization makes, it will be to no avail unless customers are willing to buy the product, based on the idea that a product can do no more than it has been designed for. Design and specifications are equally important. And if an organization focuses on one of these only, it will deteriorate. An organization may provide the right design quality, a product which customers would want to buy - but could lose out by not having the right specifications required. Similarly, a product providing the right specifications only may not meet customer design requirements.
Process oriented: The tasks or processes in an organization are connected in a series of quality chains working across the conventional internal functional principles. Every process in a quality chain has a customer, beginning with the internal customer in an organization, and continuing to be subjected to various stage processes until the product actually reaches the external customer. In this manner, total quality management attempts, by way of teamwork and cooperation, to involve all organization levels in delivering quality to internal customers, and ultimately to external customers.
Continuous Improvements:
To comply with customer requirements involves continuous
improvements of products and processes. The most efficient method to create improvement is to let the staff performing the particular work identify and implement the particular improvement in their daily work. Even through continuous improvement involves all staff, this should be viewed from the angle that it is the management that has the responsibility for the development and the change in the organization. ”The role for the employees is to assist…. To eliminate errors in products or processes and also to give the worker a chance to use they brains and make them contribute to continuous improvements within their organization” Lillrank and Canoe (1989, p.29).
Improvement Tools: These tools are statistic process control methods, to be used by all staff to simplify processes and process reorganizing.
Measuring: Monitoring the cost of quantity and customer satisfaction denotes a recent effort in total quality management; it is a supplement to the more traditional way of measuring failure and variations. The cost of quantity is a financial measure of the quality performance; it may be described as follows: Preventing expenses – checking and testing incoming components, inspecting products prior to their leaving the organization, routine inspection maintenance; failure expenses –
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waste, scrap, double work; Estimating expenses – inspection, inspection with vendors, estimate activities.
Organization Approach: This includes implementation of groups, commitment to quality, planning of cross functional workgroups, changing staff role towards a customer oriented role, teamwork and an extended cooperation with suppliers about continuous quality improvements. The management of the organization needs quality planning as a component in their strategic planning. Those responsible for the political messages in the organization should make sure that the quality concept becomes well known by all staff. The new infrastructure in the organization is seen as a necessity for total quality management as it will pick up and gather all in the organization and provide its continuous survival.
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1.2 Emerging Problems
The literature argues that total quality management is about complying with customer requirements. The internal staff, not in direct touch with external customers, are being encouraged to regard their colleagues as customers, establishing internal organization relations similar to the relations of the organization to its external customers. Making the staff customer oriented, focusing on the aim of continuously improving customer satisfaction. Achieving successful implementation of total quality management will thus require all staff to effect continuous improvements as an integrated part of their daily work. In this connection, several theorists assert that the organization will need to develop a quality culture (Glover, 1993). The literature on total quality management does, however, stress the need of the management to try to get staff commitment to total quality management but the literature offers little comment as to whether commitment to total quality management does in fact materialize.
Hill (1991, p.541- 569) Solutions for technical issues like the design of quality systems and procedures are very specific but there are holes in the method as to how one should deal with the social factors.
The total quality management literature argues that commitment by the staff and by the middle managers to total quality management should be generated by way of education and training as well as by personal experience. The reason for this assumption is that staff and middle managers will gain satisfaction through continuous improvements and by doing a good job. Based on the idea of mutual commitment, the total quality organization will comply with individual demand for job satisfaction and for self realization, and the organization will achieve its aims based on individual satisfaction. Nevertheless, Hill (2003) states that the literature on total quality management has underrated the prevailing difficulties in making all of the employees of an organization buy the idea of total quality management. Traditional work practice and management style do not conform to total quality management, and the idea of total quality management could encounter resistance not only by the general staff but also by the middle managers as subordinates assume increased impact and influence, and total quality management could entail a larger workload. In this connection, Schuler and Harris (1992) argue that the staff of a total quality organization will gain deeper insight in the information and a greater liability for their own work. This will change
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the traditional middle manager task which used to cover measuring and coordination of the instructions issued by the top management. The middle manager function in total quality management organization is one of acting as a sparring partner for the staff - a function which will require new abilities and a change of attitude by middle managers. Generally, the staff and middle managers of a total quality management organization should assume greater responsibility for the same wages and salaries. An implementation of total quality management might evoke a fear of loosing workplaces. It should then not be taken for granted that staff and middle management would necessarily be enthusiastic about total quality management.
1.3 Research Questions
General research questions
Viewed through a critical perspective on the literature of total quality management. 1. What implications are there in building a quality culture ? 2. What potential problems might arise due to an implementation ?
Research questions
In the context of the implementation of total quality management in the Grundfos Group. 1. What strategic role did the human resource management play in the implementation ?
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2. The Research Area and Theoretical Context
Based on the research questions and overall purposes discussed, this thesis focuses mainly on the five concepts of total quality management, implementation, culture, human resource management, work environment in general.
2.1 Total Quality Management and Organization Culture
Total quality management works with an open management style with a delegation of liability. The aim is to develop a quality culture in which everyone working in the organization will share a commitment to continuous improvements in order to satisfy customers. But according to (IPM,1993) research, despite increased attention to the culture issues, still devotes very little attention to the practical day-to-day process of changing the culture of the organization. Further, the literature of culture argues about the difficulties involved in changing the culture of an organization (Ogbonna, 1993). Schein (2004) for instance views culture as something which, according to him, includes three levels as illustrated in Figure 1. • • •
Artifacts refer to the visible organization structure and processes. Espoused values refer to the strategies, objectives, and philosophies. Basic underlying assumptions refer to the unconscious, taken-for-granted beliefs, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings.
Schein (1992) argues that the pattern of basic underlying assumptions may act as a cognitive defense mechanism for individuals or groups, thus making culture changes difficult, time consuming, and anxiety provoking. Cultures are deep seated, pervasive and complex, and it may prove an extremely difficult experience to bring these assumptions to the surface. (Schein) 1 ” Organization learning, evolution and planned changes cannot be understood without taking care of the culture as the primary cause of resistance towards the change”
1
www.onepine.info/pschein.htm
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Schein (1992) identifies management as a subculture in every organization and argues that the management as an introduction to a change of the organization culture should discuss their own culture to a degree which would make it accessible to identify their subculture, and thus a lean new method to reflect and change their culture, as an unfreeze phase – cognitive restructure phase – refreeze phase of their shared culture before they try to implement the change in the organization culture. (Schein, 1992) method for change is based upon Kurt Lewin´s change theory. • • •
Unfreezing Cognitive restructuring Refreezing
Others theorists claim that there are separate subcultures and occupational cultures which are influenced by internal and external factors. According to Meyerson and Martin (1987), this would question the assumption that an organization has one shared culture, and if that culture is relatively simple, it could be changed by the management. Even assuming that only one shared culture exists, it would still be a problem for the management to implement total quality management because the existing culture could resist the change, acting as a barrier to the implementation. In a research of 15 English companies, it was analyzed which method the management had applied to handle the culture in their organizations. Williams (1998, p. 37) has, with reference to the research unfolded, five methods which were commonly applied by the management.
1. Changing the composition of the members in the organization through selective recruitment and dismissal programs with the aim of getting new colleagues with the correct attitude as well as the technical skills and experience. This might call for the use of more sophisticated hire techniques such as physical testing, rating center, and bio data. 2. Moving colleagues to new functions in order to destroy old subcultures. 3. Providing colleague training and role models to achieve the culture required. This would involve middle managers and managers who should act as role models and show personal commitment to the new aim. 4. Training colleagues in the new working method, changing their attitudes towards their tasks. 5. Changing the work environment, HR policies, and the management style in general.
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With reference to the survey, it was also mentioned that attempts to manage the culture would frequently be more successful when the changes where caused by critical factors, such as a decline in markets, new competition or financial problems. This would help organization staff realize the necessity for the particular change. (Schein) 2 seems to agree in respect of the arguments about structure, systems and procedures as an important mechanism when dealing with the culture changes but he regards them as secondary in relation to: Leadership: ”This ability to perceive the limitations of one’s own culture and to develop the culture adaptively is the essence and ultimate challenge of leadership.” Education: ”The culture of a group is a pattern of shared assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and fall in relation to those problems.” HR policies and practice ”Every group must know what its heroic and sinful behaviours are, and must achieve consensus on what is a reward, and what is a punishment.”
The literature agues therefore for a more complex and comprehensive changing agenda towards an implementation of total quality management, leadership, human resources, and the work environment in general being important elements.
2
www.onepine.info/pschein.htm
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3. Strategic Human Resource Management
In recent years, the strategic contribution of the human resource management has, in order to meet organizations overall aims, been widely acknowledged. In most cases has this meant that the management has changed their methods of how they are working with their personal policies. Ulrich (2003) claims that human resource management shall, if it does not already do so, act as a strategic partner for the organization. This means that the human resource management should contribute to the company´s achievements by translating all of the overall strategies into human resource practice. The human resource department should no longer be viewed as a special function concentrating on staff in a manner separate from the overall organization strategy.
Walker (1992, p. 2)” The task for the HR function is to ensure that all HR activities be focused on the organization requirements. All HR activities should therefore be adjusted towards the organization demands and be reflected in the HR strategy. The HR strategy connection be adjusted towards the organization strategy” should in this
According to this, the human resource management strategy should be adjusted towards the organization strategy, thus creating and establishing a fit between the human resource management strategy and organization strategy with the separate human resource tasks, such as employment, wage negotiation, and employee development; these elements are to be adjusted so as to constitute a coherent whole. This is referred to as the Machting Model in the human resource literature. (Boxall, 1992). Illustrated in Figure 2.
Evans and Lindsay (1999) research surveys also show how different organization strategies will call for different human resource management strategies, each requiring different staff roles, and these will in turn require different human resource policies in order to meet the demand for the different employee roles. Arthur (1992) has further conducted similar Macht´s between organization strategies and human resource management strategies.
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3.1 Organization Strategy
According to the literature of organization strategies, one of the three strategies outlined below is dominant (Evans and Lindsay, 1999). • • •
Cost Reduction Quality Enhancement Innovation
It should, however, be mentioned that there are organizations who choose to use one or several of the above strategies, for instance Honda in America who applies the quality enhancement and innovation strategy (Evans and Lindsay, 1999). The development of strategies in a considerable number of organizations has, according to Walton (1985), in recent years gone from a strategy of control of the individual towards a strategy focusing on commitment, flexible job functions, teamwork, involvement of employees, and a flattened organizational structure. The argument for this development rests on increased market competition mainly due to the globalization and government liberalization but also because customers have become more demanding not only on price but also in respect of selection, quality, services, and design. Consequently, it is argued (Guest, 1987) that there is a need of winning staff commitment in favour of quantity and flexibility objectives. The change in competition, the need to comply with increasing customer requirements, and the call for flexibility and staff commitment, would all appear to reflect that total quality management and more fashionable organizations strategies have much in common. Whether total quality management is a quality enhancement strategy or an innovation strategy, or a combination of these, is basically immaterial. The essence is that an implementation of total quality management would frequently require an equivalent change in the human resource management strategy in order to create the employees which would be required in the context of total quality management.
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4. Human Resource Management
Devanna, Fombrum and Tichy (1984) illustrate, by way of Figure 3, the various tasks of human resource management. Selection: Devanna, Fombrum and Tichy (1984) claims, as illustrated by Figure 3 that the attempt to develop a quality culture starts with the selection of employees with the appropriate characteristics. Effective recruitment is consequently important, and specific media for advertising and formulations should be selected with a view to hiring staff. Realistic and precise job adds which would inspire candidates to reflect on their abilities in relation to the particular job while selective methods in the organization should test applicant abilities in problem-solving and teamwork (Bowen and Lawler, 1992).
Industrial Relations Review and Report (1991) claims that there is ample evidence testifying how organizations identify the selection of staff as a key area in total quality management. On this aspect, Storey (1992) mentions how some total quality organizations used tests in the selection of foremen and hourly-paid workers in order to measure their abilities to think independently, work in teams and in a general spirit of cooperation. After the selection and the integration of the new staff in the organization, the human resource cycle will move its focus on to the organization’s performance as manifested by control, rewards, and development.
Performance: Some theorists have claimed that performance control plays a major role in the development, communication, and measuring of quality standards (Deblieux, 1991). However, experience has shown that the result of the performance might be unable to reach the targets and would thus frequently degenerate into an empty ritual (Snape, 1994). Further, many authors on total quality management, especially W.E. Deming, assert that control of the performance does not fit the idea of total quality management (Evans and Lindsay, 1999). W.E Deming maintains that variations in performance will mainly derive from the work process, and not from the individual employee.
W.E. Deming: ” If an employee is told by the manager to cut the plates exactly 2,536 mm long, and the employee is equipped with nothing but a rip saw, a table, as well as a tape measure, it would not be possible for the employee to cut all the plates exactly 2,536 mm long. Improvements
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in the work process would only be gained if the management would invest in an electrical saw, a cutting table, and more precise measuring equipment. It is, however, up to the particular staff member to report whenever the saw blade might, for instance, be worn down” 3
Improvements should occur through changes of processes rather than through control of the staff; according to Deming this is the key to develop cooperation teams (Evans and Lindsay, 1999). Deming argues that it is difficult to gain any kind of cooperation if the management focuses on blaming the individual employee as was the case in the traditional control of performance. Deming further argues that this would generate a work environment of fear in which the staff would rather avoid any form of risk while merely concentrating on short-term potential and individual performance – an attitude which would undermine cooperation, creativity, and the committed pattern of behaviour needed to create continuous improvement (Evans and Lindsay, 1999). Others have asserted that there is a need for a change leading away from the traditional and individual control of performance towards a more process-oriented and teamwork-measuring type of performance to be manifested in the total quality management work (Glover, 1993). Western management has, however, generally demonstrated a dislike of the removal of control with regard to performance. Even in organizations which had implemented total quality management, such organizations have frequently done so alongside their existing control system (Bowen and Lawler, 1992). Several authors claim that something should be done about the control sheets to make these more effective, a proposal aiming to remove the traditional hierarchical structure and to involve employees further down the organization in control of the performance. In total quality management seeing the customer, external or internal, as the highest instance in control of performance, it would seem logic to include the customer. This could also support the collaboration between the various teams, suppliers, and customers, and develop a more open and positive organization (Redman, 1992).
3
The Managemennt and control of quality, page 77
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Development: Training and development are recognized by most theorists as being essential in an implementation of total quality management. The literature of total quality management also focuses intensively on management training in quality tools and techniques. Rewards: Bowen and Lawer (1992) claim that total quality management removes the traditional career ladder because of the flat flexible structure within the organization. Total quality management sets, on the other hand, the cross functional experience as a reward. A key element in the cycle is that of rewards in order to retain and motivate the spaff, especially in work areas facing major competition. In the attempt to hold on to employees, rewards such as cash may play an important role. In the literature of total quality management, the subject of rewards such as cash is, however, controversial. There is, however, a general agreement that result-based output systems may destroy staff commitment and motivation towards quality improvements. Particularly Deming is against rewards such as those of cash. As mentioned above, he asserts that it is the very recognition that quality works that is the reward.
Some total quality management theorists have argued that the road towards developing a quality culture goes through public recognition in the organization and mention of the use of a reward system as a method to generate successful performance or results. Such a system could either involve a recognition or a reward such as cash in order to gain public recognition among the other employees. Other authors, however, assume an attitude of doubting any such proposition but acknowledge that rewards and recognition may be used as part of an implementation of total quality management if the management be aware that rewards and recognition will not be sufficient to build a quality culture.
According to Drummond and Chell (1992), the staff might presume that they would increase their wages owing to their increased liability, and that they would also receive a part of the financial gain thus created. If this is not realized, the organization might risk staff disillusion with total quality management. Walker (1992) claims that total quality management will regularly fail after 3 to 5 years after the implementation because the staff will lose interest in the prizes , the recognition, and because of their expectations of a financial reward due to their contribution to the quality improvements.
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This is indeed a controversial area. Implementation of total quality management will most likely require a search for new ways of dealing with this area. Bowen and Lawler (1992) argues that the trend is moving towards a group-oriented recognition aiming to support the team, as well as a skillbased reward targeting an increase in individual skills. This is more in line with total quality management and could be a means of support for or a substitution of the more traditional rewards and recognition.
4.1 Human Resource Perspective and W. E. Deming Perspective
The human resource management cycle focuses on the individual employee by way of control, rewards, and development efforts in the attempt to create a commitment towards continuous quality improvements. Another perspective (Deming, 1982) is the focus on improving the system. The essence of these two perspectives is the cause of variation in performance.
HRM perspective Focus on performance improvements HRM implications Individual performance
W.E. Demings perspective_________
System improvements
______________________________________________________ Individual control Avoid blaming the individual ”drive out fear” Rewards Education, training Recognition on quantity, training and education. Leadership
___________________________________________________________________________
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The human resource management perspective assumes implicitly that organization performance efficiency may be controlled by focusing on the performance of the individual employee. In contrast to this stands the perspective taken by (Deming, 1982). He divides organization performance into two categories. The first category in which the variation is brought about by the individual employee – a process which he characterizes as one of special reasons. The second category in which the variation is due to the organization, a category characterized as one of normal reasons. Deming (1982) argues that the special reasons category includes but a small part in relation to the normal reasons of variation. According to Deming, attempts to control an organization as in the human resource management perspective will come out as a definite failure because this will take the focus off the normal reasons of variation, and also undermine the staff behaviour of practicing continuous improvements.
These perspectives offer two different hypotheses: Whereas one focuses on control/management of the individual employee, the other focuses on improvements of the organization.
Deming argues, as mentioned above, that the individual reward and individual control will actually undermine the kind of staff behaviour which was intended to contribute to continuous improvement. Deming could have a point in his argument against blaming the individual employee for the variations in the organization, and it is also acknowledged that measuring of individual performance might result in staff demoralizing . However, in recent years there has been increasing interest in combining these two hypotheses. Waldman (1994) has a theory about performance focusing on staff factors (awareness, skills, attitude, and individual motivation) and also on the system factors (work environment restrictions and requirements). Waldman argues that these factors affect one another, and together they will constitute a determinant for the performance of the organization. This is in agreement with the fact that the human resource policies may support the development of the necessary motivation, behaviour, and competences required for implementation of total quality management. This further implies that the work environment and job design will have an impact on the commitment to continuous improvements by the particular staff member.
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5. Work Environment and Job Design
Oliver (1988) characterizes total quality management as a change in the management strategy according to which the organization will abandon a strategy of direct control in favour of a strategy of autonomous liability and control. He believes that in the attempt to develop staff commitment towards total quality management, the organization will need to change the traditional implementation methods of total quality management. He argues instead for a change in the context of work performance in order to influence the behaviour shown by the staff, with a view to creating a commitment to total quality management. He regards behaviour as being widely controlled by its social context of work performance. The work performance environment is, according to him, created by four elements. As illustrated in Figure 4. • Explicitness refers to the need of having clearly defined and specified job responsibilities because the individual employee will be more inclined to perceive a liability if job responsibilities are/remain unclear. • Revocability refers to a situation in which there would be less or no control of individual task performance – in which the individual would feel a higher degree of liability for the task. • Publicity refers to the position in which individual actions, and the consequences of same, would be visible to other employees, thus rendering the individual more personally responsible. The argument is one of social pressure and of individual need of recognition. • Volition refers to a situation in which the individual would feel that he/she has control over own actions, and also on the aspect of his/her own level of potential. The argument being that each of these factors will be positive in relation to the individual feeling a liability and a commitment, and this may thus apply pressure on the individual to act in a particular way.
Oliver argues how the environment in an organization could be built up so as to support total quality management. By setting up performance indicators for the development of explicitness and publicity. And by removing quality control in the traditional sense towards the development of revocability and involving the staff in decision-making in order to the develop volition.
Others claim that it is the design of the job function which is important to achieve staff commitment to continuous improvements. Lucas (1999) for instance, argues that the staff would only indicate a
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commitment if their jobs are meaningful, involving some measure of liability, and enabling the individual to register own performance. These arguments calls upon attention to the work environment and the design of the job function as important elements in the creation of a commitment to continuous improvements. This is in contrast to a host of total quality management literature claiming that the staff commitment should be generated through management change of attitudes, settings, education and training.
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5.1 Employee Involvement
Total quality management literature claims that employees are forced to realize the process in continuous improvements and must be actively involved (Crosby, 1995),(Deming,1982). Ishikawa ( 1985, p.112): The management and the middle managers have to be courageous enough and delegate as much liability as possible. This is the way to build respect for the humanity in your management philosophy. A management system in which all staff, from the top to the bottom, will participate, and humanity be fully respected.
The literature of total quality management calls attention to autonomy, creativity, active cooperation, and self control by the staff, involvement of the employees being an important element. Wilkinson (1994, p.279) has identified three phases in which total quality management organizations involves employees. • •
The first phase is in the process of using videos, meetings, posters, newsletters etc. used to disseminate the message about total quality management among the staff. The second phase is in the participation in the principal structures of total quality management, such as quality circles, improvements and teams which are established ad hoc or on a more permanent basic.
•
The third phase is how total quality management will change the way the organization works. Total quality management will eliminate control tasks or reduce their number, will demand teamwork, will try to create a more mobile organization, and will establish autonomous groups.
There are two underlying assumptions in this; first, you have commitment, self control and delegation of the liability referred to which would rest on a theory Y view on the individual. This is characterized by self control and liability which will make the individual act in a manner committed and motivated. The Y view on the individual is in contrast to the theory X view, the latter characterizing the individual as lazy and having a need of monitoring and control. According to the Y view, total quality management holds out a positive and promising message to the staff as total quality management offers an opportunity to realize individual potential in a challenging and satisfying work environment.
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Another assumption could lead to a less optimistic conclusion. Total qualitymanagement implicates the assumption that everyone in the organization would share a set of interests and values which the management has the right to control and change. The changes undertaken by the management will automatically be accepted and recognized as valid by all staff (Wilkinson, 1991). Customer defined goals in total quality management are rarely questioned, and the management may then reduce this to a technical matter which transforms inputs to outputs in order to maximize customer satisfaction.
Staff involvement constitutes a widely discussed subject in the total quality management literature but the attention in the literature is focused upon the individual work rather than involvement in wider areas such as business strategy, investments etc.
Cappelli and Rogovsky (1994, p. 207) “ Based upon staff now being asked about joining in on the design of their work, and considering that the individual routine could now comprise a larger range of tasks, this could make total quality management attractive to the staff but the fact still remains that their participation is limited to their particular work area.
Critical evaluation has also viewed total quality management and JIT ( Just in Time ) production systems as part of an attempt to intensify the work by reducing the production time and increasing the workload of the individual through teamwork (Dawson and Webb, 1989). According to this interpretation, total quality management could be a simple episode in the long struggle about the border of control. Thus, there is a clear sharing of the views between those who view total quality management as leading to empowerment, and those who view total quality management as an intensification of the work.
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5.2 The Labour Unions
The literature of total quality management does not deal extensively with unions and collective agreements. An abstention could be critical as the traditional pattern in pluralistic industrial relations has accepted unions as legitimate representatives for the employee interest in respect of wages, benefits, and working conditions. In some cases did union representatives actually express the view that an implementation of total quality management would be a management decision which would not directly implicate their members. But wherever total quality management has been implemented, and the organizational and industrial relation implications have become clearer, the labour union would probably assume a rather more questioning attitude. This was the case at British Telecom (Ferner and Colling, 1991) in which the labour union prevented the total quality management process using arguments to the effect that it would require a large workforce to deliver the quantity the customers demanded. Unions have also expressed some amount of scepticism about the substance of the initiatives suchaas as total quality management, employee involvement, human resource and customer services programs (Heery, 1993). Labour unions may also fear that any such development would see them marginalized, and that their role in the workplaces might be threatened through the establishment of new communication channels focusing on the individual and smaller groups rather than on the collective. Unions have, however, been more concerned about the detailed impact on their members of the potential use of customer information to discipline employees, and about implications resulting from more flexible working hours and patterns (Heery, 1993). Employees and their unions might also fear the intensification of the work through total quality management at the higher level of liability and pressure, while seeing but a small reward, or none at all.
This leads back to the previous discussion on total quality management and rewards by which employees could expect a reward along with the additional achievement, a view or position which could be difficult for the management to resist without risking opposition and lack of motivation. Unions are, however, not necessarily against total quality management. In a report on human resource management, it was suggested that the management and the labour union should develop a type of cooperation about the design and the implementation of the changes in the organization. Another report published by managers and union managers also argues in favour of a cooperation at the workplace level (Marchington, 1995). How widely diffused such points of views would be
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would depend particularly on specific details in the organization change and the national trade union policy.
6. The HR Department in Total Quality Management
As for the importance of the human resource tasks in the implementation of total quality management, it is relevant to ascertain which tasks human resource employees would be assigned in this context. They are expected to be involved in the design and in the implementation of the new human resource policies as a matter of necessity to support the change. Such policies seem like critical symbols of the change so the human resources department contribution is one of the significant areas of total quality management. The human resource department has, however, for a long time been recognized as an ambiguous function the contribution of which to organization aims could be difficult to estimate. Human resource employees may also find it difficult to clearly define their particular expertise for generally all managers are concerned about the management of the staff. However, in recent years a stronger profile of the human resource tasks in the organization has emerged but it does not necessarily lead to a stronger profile of the human resource department, merely because the staff and the management show a higher degree of attention and liability to the tasks of the human resource department. (Storey, 1992). In fact, some tasks would be considered too important to leave for human resource department attention in view of the limited attention devoted by human resource staff to the real tasks of the organization, the lack of management faith in the function, as well as its own lack of skills/competences and / or self-confidence (Bowen and Lawler, 1992).
The research conducted by Wilkinson and Marchington (1994) contributes to the understanding of the human resource tasks in the design and in the implementation of total quality management. Their research of 15 organizations described four roles adopted by human resource staff in the design and in the implementation of total quality management. They distinguish between four roles having two dimensions, as illustrated in Figure 5.First, assuming that the human resource department has participated at a strategic or at an operational level. It is a question of the difference between a highly administrative level and a very directly involved level. Secondly, they distinguish between a high profile and a low profile of the human resource department. The high profile is extremely visible to the other managers and staff while the low profile will act in a rather more back-stage manner.
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The first role is that of the Facilitator. It was found in all the studies involving the human resource department in the implementation of total quality management, especially at the operational level. Involving training of the middle management, elaboration of news letters and other communication related tasks. Even through this role is seen as essential according to the survey, it really entails no more than routine practice in a human resource department.
The second role is that of the Internal Contractor. This role did involve the human resource department in setting aims and standards for the human resource policies addressing internal customers. In their research, the clearest example was that of a software enterprise. They had set aims for the human resource department services targeting internal customers, evaluating these with internal customers. Further, Bowen and Lawler (1992) have offered their version of how the Internal Contractor role could work in respect of total quality management. According to them, the human resource department should strive to make things right the first time in order to avoid conversion of failure training programs or rewards. There should be explicit focus on customer requirements with customer-oriented programs instead of standard programs. This would involve the customers, at the level of middle management or employees, in the specification and design of the product. The implementation of total quality management in the human resource department would also involve empowerment of the department staff.
While the Internal Contractor and The facilitator works at the operational level rather than at the strategic level, the Internal Contractor keeps a high profile because of its role of stating and communicating quantity standards to internal customers. The third role is that of the Change Agent who maintains a high profile and works at the strategic level. In extreme cases, the human resource department may play a major role in the design of the total quality management program, improving its foundation with a view to developing a quantity culture and assist in the control of the program. Total quality management is thus seen as synonymous with an organization change, and the human resource department as a part of the organization which will be best placed to define and lead the process. This role was observed in several of the companies covered by the survey. Though clearest in the case of Ilford Ltd. where it was widely recognized in the organization that the human resource department did have an important role in the development of total quality management and actually worked as a motivating power in the change.
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The fourth role is that of the Hidden Persuader. Entailing that the human resource department will play a strategic role in the beginning of the work with total quality management, for instance as a critical participant in management discussion regarding the implementation of total quality management. Opposite the Change Agent we find the Hidden Persuader role, not especially visible to middle managers and employees but acting rather as a guide for the management. This view was held by Racal Facts Networks managers who opted for using the human resource department because they considered the function as one run by a a neutral department which would create an overview of the changing processes and act as a non-partisan part in valuing various interests within the organization.
It is hardly surprising that there are a number of pitfalls in these roles. The Change Agent, manifesting the visible and important role, may risk the transfer of its entire role to another department if the total quality management program fails. In contrast to this, we have the Hidden Persuader whose only risk is one of getting but a small part, if any, of the honour of success, a risk also valid for the The Facilitator. The Internal Contractor carries the obvious risk of not achieving the required aims, thus losing the confidence of the other departments. However, a human resource department is not limited to choosing just one of the four roles but could retain several roles. It is thus possible to act as The Facilitator during training and promotion of the communication initiatives, while still participating in strategic design of the total quality management, as the Hidden Persuader.
To which extent the human resource department would take over on one or several roles in an implementation of total quality management is not merely a matter of a decision made by the human resource department. Much will depend on on three critical factors. The first factor is that of the existing status and style of the department; a department which so far has performed only basic staff work will probably not have the necessarily expertise and credibility required in order to assume a strategic role in the implementation of total quality management. The second factor is that the human resource department will regularly point to initiatives different from those of the production department, and may thus risk being marginalized in the organization. The third factor is that of the history of quality management. Since the previous system-based method applied in quality management is acknowledged to have failed, this may in fact offer the
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department an opportunity to assume a more strategic role. The role of the human resource department does, however, not necessarily have be permanent because of the continuous processes in total quality management which will provide for the human resource department an opportunity of being involved in a large-scale or smaller extension over time. The human resource department could, for instance, be highly involved in the design and implementation phase; subsequently, the department may step “back-stage”, and from this point encourage the organization to demonstrate liability towards quantity. Again, the human resource department might be periodically involved in process evaluation such as reflected in surveys, analysis, and training.
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6.1 Total Quality Management and the Future HR Department
It is the intention that the human resource department should move towards the part as an Internal Contractor for production line middle manager as those who would define customer needs and would keep open the option of rejecting the services offered or the proposals made by the human resource department. The human resource department would have to accept the conditions and values set by production line middle managers. Nevertheless, Fowler (1993) claims that the role for the human resource department should not be limited to satisfy production line middle managers. According to Fowler (1993), the role of the human resource department is to contribute to the realization of the overall aims of the organization. If the human resource department is to retain its professional integrity, they will need to go beyond the narrow Facilitator and Internal Contractor role and take on a rather more strategic role. Fowler (1993, p. 29) argues in that context that an effective human resource department will consist of three qualities: • • •
Professional knowledge and expertise. Usefulness on the demands from the organization to achieve overall short-term and long- term objectives. A proactive approach, proposing changes and modifications rather than merely acting on the strength of views held by other parties.
The question is then if the human resource department actually has the three qualities held out by Fowler. First, he mentions professional knowledge and expertise. A research by Millard (1992) showed that only 54 % of the British industrial human resource managers had the professional or educational qualifications pertaining to their work. Their number has, however, been increasing in the early 1980’s but has been falling in recent years. Consequently, it should not be taken for granted that the human resource department will actually have the professional knowledge and expertise required. To which extent the personnel department has proved its relevance in relation to organization shortterm and long-term aims and objectives, and in respect of their ability to act proactively, may also be questioned. Purcell and Ahlstrand (1994) studies of human resource department influence on the organization strategies revealed that the human resource department would typically only get involved in the implementation and on matters and subjects which would rarely be of any major importance. Other functions, such as those of finance and technology, proved, on the other hand, to
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be crucial to the choice of strategy. According to this, the human resource department would have but limited influence on the strategical level, as compared with that of the other departments. Further, their study illustrated that none of the proactive initiatives actually creating a change in the organizations derived from the human resource department. Storey (1996) claims, nevertheless, that even though the human resource department may be marginalized in major organizations, the other departments will acknowledge the significance of the human resource department in the process of change.
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7. Case Study of the Role of the HR Department.
The present case study was conducted in the Grundfos Group, one of the leading pump unit manufacturers in the world. In order to carry out the study, plant visits were made at various Grundfos Group locations in Denmark by the author on several occasions from March, 2006, to May, 2006. During these plant visits, the data presented were obtained.
7.1 Facts about the Grundfos Group
Establishment: Grundfos was established in 1945 by the late Poul Due Jensen. At the outset, he named his company: "Bjerringbro Pressestøberi og Maskinfabrik" (Bjerringbro Die-Casting and Machine Factory) and not until 1967, after several changes of names, did the company get its present name, that of GRUNDFOS.
Products: With an annual production of more than 10 million pump units, Grundfos is one of the world's leading pump manufacturers. Circulator pumps, submersible pumps, and centrifugal pumps are the three major product groups. Today, Grundfos is the world's largest manufacturer of circulator pumps, covering approximately 50 percent of the world market for these pumps. In addition to pumps, Grundfos manufactures electric motors for the pumps and runs a considerable production of electric motors for separate merchandising. Further, Grundfos develops and sells state-of-the-art electronics for controls for pumps and other systems. Applications: Circulator pumps are used for heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning in domestic houses, office buildings, hotels, etc. In the industry, the pumps are used in processes as well as in the area of plant maintenance; further, as important built-in parts in OEM products. In the watersupply and waste-water segment Grundfos offers a wide range of reliable pumps for irrigation, green houses and for municipal, private and industrial water supply as well as sewage applications. Global Expansion: The Grundfos Group is represented by 72 companies in 41 countries. In addition, Grundfos products are merchandised by distributors in a large number of countries.
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006 Key figures (in DKK million) 2005 Turnover Ordinary profit before tax Profit before tax as % of turnover Equity Capital Return on Equity Capital Total Assets Number of employees 13,422 1,254 9.3% 5,994 12.7% 13,166 13,369 2004 12,153 1,232 10.1% 5,150 14.2% 11,798 12,586
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7.2 The Grundfos Group Mission and Vision
The Mission. It is their mission to successfully develop, produce, and sell high-quality pumps and pumping systems world-wide, contributing to a better quality of life and to a healthy environment.
The Vision. Their customers acknowledge them as the leading producer and partner when it comes to high-quality pumps - both in terms of performance and of environment. Their employees thrive and demonstrate their satisfaction because their jobs and working conditions offer great opportunities for professional and personal growth and development. In addition, their satisfaction stems from a good work environment, allowing for considering individual wishes and qualifications. The surrounding society recognizes and regards Grundfos with respect as a result of their responsible conduct in relation to the laws of their society, the principles of democracy, local traditions, as well as the environment - as well as their relations to the people whose lives and circumstances they touch.
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7.3 Quality in the Grundfos Group
The Pillars of Grundfos Total Quality Management Process From the very beginning, the fundamental principles of the TQM process have been communicated in the organization through this graphic presentation of a house:
The commitment of the management is the foundation that has to support the bearing elements – focus on facts, customers, and employees, and participation by everyone and continuous improvements – in the work aiming for the target. The target – increasing competitive power – is the roof that rests on these three pillars. The symbolism is obvious: If the foundation or just one of the pillars crumbles, the roof will no longer be supported, and the competitive power thus cannot be intensified. According to the production assistent manager Thomas Hansen does Grundfos attaches great importance to the quality concept as an integral part of the entire organization and considers quality assurance a decisive parameter for continued growth of the Group. He argues further that quality management in the Grundfos Group shall be based on the zero-defect philosophy and implemented
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at all stages from product development through purchasing, production, and distribution to marketing and service. All employees are also according to the quality handbook in the Grundfos Group entitled and obliged to point out defects, and quality ranks as the highest priority whenever faults, or the risk of faults, are detected. Quality management in the development process shall be directed towards developing robust and reliable products which have the right functions for the customers, and which can be produced with zero defects. Quality management in production shall be directed towards zero-defect manufacture based on high process capability and full employee responsibility for own work. Regarding suppliers does SR manager Christian Hansen mention that the supplier quality assurance must be verified and approved before a purchase agreement is signed, and must be regularly revised to achieve continuous improvements. In- and outsourced products and services must fulfill the same requirements as Grundfos own products and processes. Market and individual company satisfaction with the products and services of the Group must be frequently monitored and documented, and unsatisfactory results must be promptly reacted to. Certification of the quality management system must be obtained for all production companies.
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7.4 Milestones for the Total Quality Management Process
1993: Establishment of self-functioning production groups which later resulted in a high degree of responsibility and involvement in the TQM-process on the part of all employees.
1995-1997: The senior management of Grundfos A/S decides to implement TQM. The decision is based on whole-hearted commitment at all levels of management and involvement of all employees, and on the implementation of the Business Excellence model.
1998-1999: The TQM process serves as a source of inspiration to the Group management when working to renew the mission, vision, and fundamental values of the Group.
1999: A Business Excellence concept targeting the production groups is developed.
1999: Grundfos A/S wins the Danish Quality Award.
2001: Grundfos A/S reaches the finals for the European Quality Award.
2003: In connection with the European Quality Award ceremony, 9 October 2003, Grundfos A/S is awarded the EFQM special prize for Leadership and Constancy of Purpose.
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8. The Roles of the Human Resource Department
The roles of the human resource department at different stages of the implementation of total quality management in the Grundfos Group are illustrated in Figure 6.
Phase I. Envisioning: The human resource department played a central role in creating and communicating the total quality management vision of the company to the effect that the Grundfos Group attaches great importance to the quality concept as an integral part of the entire organization and considers quality assurance a decisive parameter for continued growth of the Group.
Phase II. Preparing:. The preparatory stage is crucial as it paves the way for future total quality management activities and sets the speed. During this stage, the human resource department acted in close alliance with the total quality management group. The major activities undertaken by the human resource department during that stage are listed below: • • • • Assisting the top executives in drafting the quality policies, plans, systems, and procedures Hiring the consultant for development of quality statement, total quality management goals, and objectives Communication to employees, customers, suppliers, and others Decision to proceed and obtain the commitment from the top management to provide resources to implement total quality management Phase III. Implementing: The role played by the human resource department in the implementating phase was as follows: • • • • • Creating quality awareness across the organization Developing management support Organizing quality workshops Focusing on quality in policies, systems, procedures, etc Change in mind set
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Creating quality awareness: Implementation of any action program needs sufficient wakefulness among the people ahead of time about the plan and its advantages. Quality as a concept as well as an action plan has to be extensively communicated among the employees at all levels of the organization. The Grundfos Group Human Resources Department has assumed the responsibility for creating quality awareness among employees by organizing training programs and carrying out various communication exercises by way of briefing groups, shop floor programs, etc. in consultation and collaboration with line executives. Besides, they have prepared literature on quality in the form of pamphlets, posters, slogans, wallboards, etc.
Developing management support: Successful implementation of total quality management widely depends on acceptance by the total quality management group as a philosophy of management. To achieve this, the human resource department provided training for top management as well as key executives in the organization. According to CEO Claus Witt and CFO Peter Lærke, the human resource department succeeded in dispersing the message that total quality management is a philosophy as well as a program to the top management.
Organizing quality workshops: The human resource department has organized a considerable number of workshops for total quality management facilitators and key executives to appreciate total quality management and diffuse the message of total quality at all levels. The details of the programs conducted since the inception of total quality management in the Grundfos Group are available from table I. In these workshops, pocket books and literature on quality were supplied to the participants.
Formation of quality action teams: With a view to steering the implementation of total quality management, a number of quality action teams have been constituted in the Grundfos Group to streamline systems and procedures. These teams have taken up various projects and developed solutions for implementation. So far, 187 quality action teams have been formed in the Grundfos Group for various projects. The human resource department also assisted in the formulation of new quality friendly policies, systems, and procedures, as well as updating and rationalization of the existing ones in order to create the right kind of ambience for effective implementation of total quality management.
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Change in mind set: Not all efforts for promotion and implementation of total quality management may yield the desired result unless and until quality becomes the attitudinal propensity of employees. To this end, the human resource department put emphasis on a change in the mind set of employees. Prior to the implementation of total quality management, the attitude in the company was to put the emphasis on production and sales only, according to Jørgen Kristiansen. He adds that after the implementation of total quality management, emphasis was applied on total quality in the processes in order to render the end results qualitative. Initially, quality awareness, experiences of successful implementation of total quality management in other organizations, formation of quality action teams, and performance feed-back for taking corrective measures have all led to an imperceptible though steady change in the attitudinal dimension of the employees. Today, according to HR manager Jørgen Kristiansen, each Grundfos Group employee is committed to total quality management not as a program but as a means for his own survival. He also points out that total quality management has been linked to the endurance of the organization, and enunciation of such need has made total quality management a functional system in the organization. Thus, the attitudinal aspects of transformation coupled with total quality management being a functional system have accelerated its successful implementation.
Phase IV. Sustaining the momentum: When a company launches a new program, employees must be taught how to acclimatize behaviour patterns to benefit from the program. In this context, training is of paramount importance since it will facilitate learning of the required skills and knowledge to make the program successful as well as to sustain the momentum. In addition, effective communication is equally responsible for the success of the program. Although time consuming and costly, communication may potentially reduce employee fear associated with new role patterns, make them feel more comfortable with breaking previous routines, and develop performance consistent with total quality management effort. In the Grundfos Group, through proper training and communication, all staff are persuaded to empathize total quality management, and the implementation process has gained momentum through employee involvement and team building activities.
Training: Total quality management initiatives have stated the need for training employees (Rainbird and Maquire, 1993), (Detoro and Mcabe, 1997), (Marchington and Wilkinson, 1997), (Singh, 2000). Training plays an important role in generating awareness (Palo and Padhi, 2003),
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developing a supportive culture (Brown, 1993), building quality skills (Caudron, 1993), encouraging team building (Smith, 2003), and commitment to quality policy and strategy (Palo and Padhi, 2003). In the Grundfos Group, a well-thought out training program has been designed to provide training for executives and non-executives on total quality management. The fact is acclaimed that the training activities conducted in this organization are approximately identical to procedures generally found in the management literature on the theory of training. For instance, many writers have developed models of the training process (Arnold, 1991), (Taylor, 1989), (Storey and Sission, 1993) but basically these may be summarized so as to include four phases, i.e. those of the Assessment phase, Planning/Design phase, Implementation phase, and Evaluation phase (Oakland, 2001).
Assessment. The training needs of each employee are identified and assessed regularly, and training will then be arranged to provide and enhance skills and compensate for lack of knowledge. Identification and assessment of training needs of employees in the Grundfos Group are conducted as outlined below:
• • • •
Annual Confidential Reports in the case of non-executive employees Appraisal Reports in the case of executive employees Periodic survey by the human resource department Feed-Back by Reporting Officers and Reviewing Officers
The human resource department conducts periodic surveys in the Grundfos Group department-wise, grade-wise or position-wise with a view to identifying training needs for the staff in question. In performing this, they will circulate questionnaires among the staff for self-assessment of training needs, among reporting officers and reviewing officers for identification of training needs of employees working under them, as well as among all those concerned with assessing training requirements for effective discharge of functions. Such assessment of training needs will then be compiled, codified, and pursued.
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Planning. This stage identifies where and when the training will take place, and will involve issues such as: • • • • • • Who needs to be trained Which competencies are required How long will training take What are the expected benefits of training Who/how many will undertake the training Which resources will be needed, e.g. money, accommodation, etc.
Typically, the Grundfos Group will plan its training program annually according to the needs of the employees and of the business. It will circulate a list of available courses well in advance of the training dates. The strategic training plan will be supported by an annual budgeting and planning system.
Implementation. This implicates the actual deliverance of the training. Both the training and development center and the human resource department will organize the training programs regularly.
Evaluation. This part is commonly acknowledged as one of the most critical steps in the training process. In this part, the overall effectiveness of training is evaluated, providing feedback for the trainers, senior managers, the trainees themselves, as well as future improvements of the program. Evaluation will assume multiple forms, such as those of observation, questionnaires, interviews, etc. in the Grundfos Group.
Communication: Effective communication is a critical component in achieving business success, be it communication of the organization goals, vision, strategy and business policies, or the communication of facts, information and data (Collins and Porras, 1994), (Larkin and Larkin, 1994), (Purser and Cabana, 1997), (Yingling, 1997). Regular two-way communication particularly face-to-face with employees is identified as an important factor in establishing trust and a feeling of being valued/appreciated (Mumford and Hendricks, 1996), (Fourtou, 1997).
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In the Grundfos Group, two-way communication is regarded as a core management competency as well as a key human resource responsibility. A number of schemes have been introduced in the organization to improve interpersonal communication. These schemes include: • • • • • Workplace communication schemes, communicating the personnel executive/shift in charge directly with workshop workers. Shop-floor interaction sessions Participative forum of unions Internal department sessions Open house session with CEO
According to Jørgen Kristiansen, all these communication exercises have enabled a continuous dialogue between the individual employee and the management. A typical list of human resource department responsibilities for effective communication in the Grundfos Group to achieve total quality includes issues such as: • • • • • •
meeting people on a regular basis enhancing trust and de-emphasizing power differences between themselves and their subordinates making sure that people be briefed on key issues in language free of technical jargon communicating candidly and as fully as possible on all issues affecting their people encouraging people to suggest novel ideas persuading team members to discuss company issues and provide upward feedback
Team building: It is evident from the research that pioneering organizations place great emphasis on the worth of people working jointly in teams. This is hardly surprising as a great deal of theory and research indicates that people will be motivated and work better when part of a team. Teams will also achieve more through integrated efforts and problem-solving (Katzenbach and Smith, 1994), (Milliken, 1996), (Robie, 1997). The team-oriented work environment is an essential factor for the success of total quality management (Woods, 1993), (Dean and Bowen, 1994). In the Grundfos Group, the human resource department has organized many synergetic teams to effectively handle matters relating to total quality management. Team building is facilitated in
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various areas of functioning by the work of tailor-made workshops, technology, and teamwork, enhancing management effectiveness, etc. In the multi-union setting of the company, team building will target the managing of the plural diversity of unions and the facilitating of evaluation of joint perceptions of unions on vital issues affecting the organization.
Employee Involvement: Most people still assume that total quality is the responsibility of quality specialists. However, this belief is flawed and detrimental to realization of total quality. If it is believed that the handling of total quality management will rely solely on specialists, the organization would be attempting to pull itself up by tugging at its bootlaces (Wakhlu, 1994).
In the Grundfos Group, employee participation is promoted at all levels to cultivate commitment and involvement of employees through small group activities like those of suggestion schemes, quality circles, and other participative fora. In the area of quality circles, the following initiatives have been taken up during the years of 1995-1996 during which preparatory work was conducted for implementation of total quality management. • • • • Conducted 12 workshops on quality circle techniques for members and leaders Organized 120 exposure programs on circle concepts in various departments Annual Quality Circle Recognition function was held to falicitate the work of circle members for implementing the projects Department-wise circle functions were held during the year to recognize and motivate the employees by distributing the mementos to eligible circle members In the matter of suggestion schemes, much effort was put into the work performed by the human resource department to generate an increased number of suggestions originating from employees, such as borne out by the increasing number of suggestions received over the period from 1996-1997 until 2004-2005, as illustrated in Table 2.
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8.1 HR Department Support to Other Departments.
Partnership between the human resource department and other departments is a must to support total quality management progress. Considering that total quality management does not confine itself to any functional specification but rather to the entire business of the company. In the Grundfos Group, the human resource department played the role of facilitator, internal contractor, and hidden persuader in the implementation of total quality management in the organization. On this type of effort, human resource staff will partner with other departments to support total quality management. As a partner, they not only preached the total quality management concept but also practiced it themselves in their own functional areas, according to HR assistant, Susan Jacobsen. Companionship is the cardinal approach adospted by the human resource department in the Grundfos Group to disseminate the total quality management message. Quality action teams have been constituted in the organization with managerial personnel from cross functional disciplines as well as from the human resource department. Total quality management facilitators have been selected not only from the human resource department but also from all other departments to conduct quality workshops. Likewise, at the outset the quality policy of the organization had been discussed among all the managers, a discussion facilitated by the human resource department, and quality policies were subsequently formulated and practiced.
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8.2 HR Department as Internal Consultants
The human resource department also served as internal consultants to other departments to facilitate enhanced implementation of total quality management. The items of action taken by the human resource department as outlined below demonstrate their role as internal consultants. • • • The human resource department acted as facilitators and trainers in conducting quality workshops The human resource department will act as internal consultant in the area of cost reduction and reduction of activity cycle The human resource departmentw ill also suggest ways and means of improving the work climate
8.3 The HR Challenges Associated with Total Quality Management
Implementation of total quality management may sound like a well executed strategy in the Grundfos Group but it was not an uncomplicated experience on the part of the human resource department, according to HR manager Jørgen Kristiansen. It involved several human resource challenges to them, including those of: • • • •
motivating knowledge workers getting employee satisfaction overcoming communication barriers vastness of the organization
Motivating knowledge workers: The Grundfos Group staff are well educated as compared to the employees in similar industries, according to the files of the employees. The workers are well informed, and their hierarchy of needs in the terms of (Maslow, 1943) is not confined to physical and security needs. In fact, they have an urgent need of recognition. Motivating workers with high
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recognition needs in the direction of total quality management required an extraordinary effort on the part of human resource department. Getting staff satisfaction: Satisfaction of employees is imperative to achieve total quality management. In the Grundfos Group, staff satisfaction is elevated through various measures such as those of reward and recognition schemes, an open door policy, a fair and non-discriminatory grievance handling scheme, suggestion schemes, incentive schemes to enhance productivity, group incentives, maintenance of good working and environmental conditions, etc. In addition, attempts are being made by the human resource department to build up confidence and generate optimism in every employee so as to recognize that the job he/she is doing will be worth the effort and will lead to the achievement of total quality management. In order to ascertain the level of employee satisfaction with their work life, an organization-wide survey was conducted by the human resource department in November, 2004. From this survey, the overall satisfaction index in each division in the company was estimated separately for executives as well as for non-executives. It was presumed that if the index were less than 49, it would reflect pronounced dissatisfaction; between 50 and 69, it would manifest neither pronounced satisfaction nor dissatisfaction. However, the survey actually reflected that the employee satisfaction indexes in all the cases come to more than 70, a fact revealing the pronounced satisfaction of employees with their work life.
Overcoming communication barriers: In large organizations like those of the Grundfos Group with an extremely wide network of offices across the world, the success of implementation of total quality management will critically depend on a successful communication exercise. The human resource department has taken this up as a serious challenge, and consequently developed some communication exercises to communicate the total quality management message to the organization network. In addition, the provision of formal as well as informal channels of communication with all unions and associations has provided effective communication at all levels of personnel functionaries, according to HR manager Jørgen Kristiansen.Thus generating dialogues and discussions with unions in order to sort out issues rather than facing conflict and confrontation.
Vastness of organization: Total quality management is the responsibility of every employee, and it has to be accomplished in all aspects of action and work in the organization. If any employee fails to achieve total quality, or total quality has not been achieved in any activity or process, it has to be substantiated that total quality management is a failure in the organization. This would pose a
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challenge to managers, including those of the human resource department. The Grundfos Group is a large organization undertaking the employment of almost 14.000 employees who come from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds. It was indeed - according to HR manager Jørgen Kristiansen - a multifarious task for the human resource department to conceptualize, communicate, and convince all the employees to accept, internalize, and implement total quality management.
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9. Overall Conclusion
This thesis has aimed to contribute to the understanding of the human resource management and implementation aspects of total quality management. More specifically, the aims were those of analyzing the literature of total quality management and of generating knowledge on the human resource management task with regard to an implementation of total quality management. Three research questions were formulated to address these aims. General Research Questions Through a critical perspective to the literature of total quality management. 3. What implications are there in building a quality culture ? 4. What potential problems could arise due to an implementation ?
Research Questions In the context of the implementation of total quality management in the Grundfos Group. 2. What strategic role did the human resource management play in the implementation ?
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9.1 Implications in Building a Quality Culture
The study presented aimed at studying the implications of the building of a quality culture. The literature of total quality management recognizes the importance of human resource management with a view to building a quality culture; this discussion is, however, frequently superficial, paying little attention to how a quality culture would actually be created, while presenting fairly weak arguments in favour of a need for leadership, education, and recognition. The literature on organization culture offers some guidance on the implementation of total quality management but it does not only call attention to leadership, education, and recognition but also to human resource policies and work environment in general. One hypothesis is that the implementation of total quality management will require a matching human resource strategy design, emphasizing quantity, flexibility, and commitment. This involves the human resource management, the organization way of working, as well as the human resource policies and practices. In the research, it was found that there were two different points of view on the variation in the organization performance, one focusing on control / management of the individual, the other emphasizing improvements of the organization. But, as referred to previously, recent years have seen line of arguing for a balanced method, uniting these two points of view by focusing on the performance by the individual and by improving the system, which seems logical as human resource management is a matter of much more than just avoiding to blame the individual, and it is in conformity with human resource policies and practices to support the implementation of total quality management, recognizing that the work environment generally bears on staff commitment to continuous improvement. In this connection, it was argued that a development of a quality culture would frequently be a difficult and long-drawn process because the existing organization culture might resist the change; further, it was questioned whether culture could be controlled at all.
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9.2 Potential Problems due to Implementation
The findings in the literature revealed several potential problems which could arise due to an implementation of total quality management. The literature of total quality management frequently has a hidden implicit agenda, calling upon a top-down method for the implementation. This may underestimate the difficulties of gaining a commitment to continuous improvement in the current pluralistic industrial relation culture. The perspective between the employee and the unions should also not by ignored in the practical part of the implementation.
9.3 The Strategic Role of the Human Resource Department
The case study showed how the human resource department had played different roles as facilitator, internal contractor, and hidden persuader at different stages of the implementation of total quality management in the Grundfos Group. They assisted the top management in aligning human resource polices and quality policies, creating and communicating the total quality management concept, preparing the organization as well as the staff for the implementation of total quality management, generating quality awareness among the employees across the levels, functions, and departments, developing management support to quality action teams, organizing quality workshops, formulating quality friendly policies, systems and procedures, changing the conventional mind set of employees, organizing total quality management training programs, devising different communication exercises, encouraging team building activities, promoting employee involvement through suggestion schemes, quality circles, and other participative types of forum. In order to facilitate the total quality management progress in the company, the human resource department has made a configuration with other departments. A number of quality action teams have been constituted in the company with managerial personnel from various departments, including the human resource department. The company quality policy was also formulated in consultation with the human resource department. The human resource department in the Grundfos Group also acted as internal consultants to other departments for enhanced implementation of total quality management. The implementation of total quality management in the Grundfos Group has posed a considerable number of human resource challenges to human resource employees, such as those of motivating knowledge workers, getting employee satisfaction, overcoming communication barriers, as well as solving problems associated with the vastness of the organization.
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9.4 Final Discussion and Implications for Research
This study has shown that there is a relationship between successful implementation of total quality management and human resource management. It has also shown the human resource implications of total quality management. It has reflected the fact that the human resource tasks include basic elements in the implementation of total quality management, based on the underlying assumption that employees and managers will be forced to practice continuous improvements. The various roles which a human resource management could assume in the implementation of total quality management were presented. There were several roles from a purely administrative role view, with faint visibility towards a more strategic role, with a wide type of visibility within the organization. In this connection, various elements were brought up each of which would have a bearing on the role of the human resource management in the implementation. Overall it would seem that total quality management and human resource management have quite a lot in common and would be able to contribute successfully to the accomplishent of the organization aims.
9.5 Author’s Perspective
According to several surveys (Walker, 1992),(Ernst & Young, 1992), the commitment to total quality management and other management theory would at times seem to vanish a few years after the implementation. This might raise the question why management theory as total quality management which so far may have contributed successfully to an organization would suddenly lose its staff commitment. From the author’s point of view, this would be rather like a domino effect, one group or a minor group losing interest in the theory or program triggering the effect which would in time spread throughout the organization and eventually eliminate the theory or program. Opon this issue, one line of arguing claims that designing management theories viewing the staff as one large group or smaller groups, and not as individuals, has proven a failure. The idea behind this is that each individual will have a mind of his/her own, holding different values, familiar structures, motivation, ways of thinking, behaviour etc. These individual minds will change independently over time among employees. The perceptions of these different minds are, according to the author,
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the reason why it is not possible to bring about a different way of thinking or commitment for a protracted period of time to any theory or program. As an example, 10 employees are working in a company. One day the manager will argue that the company is in a state of crisis generated by increased competition, and in order to meet the resulting new needs the board has resolved that the company should implement total quality management. The critical factors would, according to various theories and surveys (Wiliams, 1998) help the employees to see the necessity of the change – a view held and shared by the author who refers to this as Shared Mind. But according to the author, such shared mind will change; such changes will be due to ordinary reasons, such as one of the employees having a baby, another person may be getting a divorce, on an odd chance one of the employees may be having a good relationship with the manager, a state of “affairs” possibly causing some of the other employees to start dissipating gossip about their relationship. The context is that individuals experience things as being good or bad, private or public, a manner of thinking effecting the individual mind, and consequently also the individual commitment to total quality management or to any other theory, a view going from the organization towards the employee, and not from the employee to the organization. This means, according to the author, that the manager and the board in the example above should have told the staff that it is strictly a matter of necessity that we need to increase our production because of the increased competition. So use the next seven days to design your own individual work. This would enable the guy who has just had a baby to work different hours, the divorcee would have the opportunity to work from home, and the gossip group would not exist because everyone’s needs have been met. The work designs, as prepared by the employees, should be collected by the manager group who should design the organization and structure of the production so that the organization would fit the designs deriving from the employees. When one of the employees again experiences something which might cause a change in mind, all that the employee would have to do would be to restructure a new work design, delivering it to the manager for the latter to design and structure the production according to the new work design prepared by the employee. This would, according to the author, create a staff view for the organization, and not the other way around. This is all based on the assumption that individuals are variable, and that the workplace is the invariable, and it thus seems logical to change the invariable.
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
Table 1. Workshops Organized by the Human Resource Department
Number of employees covered
Year 1998-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 Number of programs conducted 135 140 145 147 123 153 130 145 Executives 1.087 1.210 1.253 1.322 1.102 1.309 1.109 1.218 Non-executives 2.502 2.621 2.970 3.208 2.989 2.678 2.879 3.102
Source: The human resource department, The Grundfos Group.
Table 2. Number of Suggenstions Received from Employees
30.000 25.000 20.000 15.000 10.000 5.000 0 1996- 1997- 1998- 1999- 2000- 2001- 2002- 2003- 20041997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Source: The human resource department, The Grundfos Group.
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
Figure 1. Levels of Culture (Schein)
Figure 2. The Machting Model (Devanna, 1984)
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
Figure 3. The Human Resource Management Cycle (Devanna, Fombrum and Tichy 1984)
Figure 4. The Work Environment (Oliver, 1988)
Context of actions Explicitess
Psychological state
Outcomes
Revocability
Felt resposibility / Commitment
Pressure to act in a prescribed manner
Publicity
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
Figure 5. The Role of the Human Resource Function (Wilkinson and Marchington, 1994)
Strategic Level Change Agent High Profil Internal Contractor Facilitor Hidden Persuder Low Profil
Operational level
Figure 6. The Role of The Human Resource Department (The Grundfos Group)
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
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Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
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doc_514877184.pdf
Total Quality Management / TQM is an integrative philosophy of management for continuously improving the quality of products and processes
02.06.2006
MASTER THESIS
Total Quality Management - Aspects of Implementation and Human Resource
Niels Brynnum Master Business Administration Thesis
Blekinge Institute Of Technology
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
Acknowledgements
The present thesis was carried out at the Blekinge Institute of Technology. During the completion of this thesis, I have received generous support from a number of people who in different ways have contributed to the completion of this academic assignment.
First I would like to thank my supervisor in the Grundfos Group, Jørgen Kristiansen and all the staff in the Grundfos Group. Their support and comments have been of inestimable value throughout my work. I would also like to thank the staff at Blekinge Institute of Technology and especially Anders Hederstierna for a very educational and well organized MBA program. Furthermore thanks to the University Libraries of Aarhus and Aalborg for their large effort and support. And finally, I would like to thank Heidi and our Frederikke Olivia for their support, love and patience throughout my studies.
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
Title
Total Quality Management – Aspects of Implementation and Human Resource.
Author
Niels Brynnum.
Supervisor
Anders Hederstierna.
Department
School of Management, Blekinge Institute of Technology.
Course
Master’s Thesis in Business Administration, 10 credits.
Problem Discussion
Total quality management has become a frequently used term in discussions concerning quality. The international and national competitive environment is in a proces of constant change by the globalisation of markets and increased interdependence of economic agents. This process of change has brought increased demands on the organizations compettiveness and the customers have gained a central role in the organizations focus. Total quality management is considered to be an important management philosophy, which supports the organizations in their efforts to obtain satisfied customers. However traditional work practice and management attitudes does not conform with total quality management, which could cause a resistance towards an implementation of total quality management.
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
Purpose
The overall aim of this thesis is to study the role and the aspects of the human resource department tasks in regards to an implementation of total quality management.
Methodology
The research methodologies of the thesis will include a combination of a theoretical analysis through a critical perspective to the total quality management literature and an empirical study of the human resource managements role in an implementation of total quality management. The research can be divided into two overaching phases: The first phase, the critical investigation of the literature and a second phase, the case study of Grundfos Group. The first phase of the thesis serves as an investigation of the literature of total quality management and as preparatory for the study in the second phase. The second phase serves as an empirical study of the strategic human resource role in the implementation of total quality management. The data presented were collected both from primary and secondary sources. The primarily sources were retrieved through interviews, internal documents and annual reports from the Grundfos Group.The secondary sources were retrieved from books, files, journals, former investigations and magazines. The case study has been chosen because The Grundfos Group represent a large international company with a human resource department, who has experienced an implementation of total quality management.
Delimitations
The author has, based upon the overall aims, made the following delimitations for the reseach accounted for in this thesis: • • The qualitative investigation, with the objective to reveal the implications and the potential problems is limited due to the critical perspective of total quality managenment. The quantitative study in this thesis are limited as its based upon a single organization, i.e The Grundfos Group. Thus, its findings cannot be generalized.
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
Theory Research questions
Through a critical perspective to the literature of total quality management. 1. What implications are there in building a quality culture ? 2. What potential problems could arise due to an implementation ?
Analysis Research questions
In context to the implementation of total quality management in the Grundfos Group. 3. What strategic role did the human resource management play in the implementation ?
Conclusion
The theoretical analysis reveals the implications there are in building a quality cuture. The analyze implies that builing a quality culture would require a matching human resource strategy, which would involve the human resource management, the organizations way of working as well as the human resource policies and practices. In context to this, was it furthermore argued that the literature of total quality management often have a hidden implicit agenda, which call upon a topdown method for the implementation of total quality management. This could underestimate the difficulties, there are in gaining a commitment to continuous improvements in the current pluralistic industrial relation culture. The empirical analysis in the Grundfos Group reveals the different roles of the human resource management and shows that the implementation of total quality management has posed quite a lot of human resource challenges to human resource employees such as, motivating knowledge workers, obtaining employees satisfaction, overcoming communication barriers, solving problems associated with vastness of the organization.
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
Table of Contents
1. 1.1 1.2 1.3 2. 2.1 3. 3.1 4. 4.1 5. 5.1 5.2 6. 6.1 7. 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 8. 8.1 8.2 8.3
Introduction......................................................................................... 1
Definitions of Total Quality Management.......................................................... 3 Emerging Problems............................................................................................. 7 Research Questions ............................................................................................. 8
The Research Area and Theoretical Context....................................... 9
Total Quality Management and Organization Culture ....................................... 9
Strategic Human Resource Management .......................................... 12
Organization Strategy ....................................................................................... 13
Human Resource Management ......................................................... 14
Human Resource Perspective and W. E. Deming Perspective ......................... 17
Work Environment and Job Design .......................................................... 19
Employee Involvement ..................................................................................... 21 The Labour Unions ........................................................................................... 23
The HR Department in Total Quality Management.......................... 24
Total Quality Management and the Future HR Department ............................ 28
Case Study of the Role of HR Management........................................... 30
Facts about the Grundfos Group ....................................................................... 30 The Grundfos Group Mission and Vision......................................................... 31 Quality in the Grundfos Group ......................................................................... 32 Milestones for the Total Quality Management Process.................................... 34
The Role of the Human Resource Department ...................................... 35
The HR Deparment Support to Other Departments.......................................... 42 The HR Department as Internal Consultants .................................................... 43 The HR Challenges Associated with Total Quality Management.................... 43
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006
9. 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5
General Conclusion ...................................................................................... 46
Implications in Building a Quality Culture....................................................... 47 Potential Problems due to an Implementation .................................................. 48 The strategic role of the human resource management .................................... 48 Final Discussion and Implications for Research............................................... 49 Authors Perspective .......................................................................................... 49 Appendices Tables Figures References
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1. Introduction
Developments in products, technologies, laws have called for Danish industrial companies to search for new strategies and structures. Decreasing markets, increasing demands, and changed customer attitudes, regulations, as well as the growing global competition in recent years, make up the causes of change in the markets Danish industrial companies are competing on. Consequently, a great many organizations focus on products for niche markets instead of selling standard mass products.
Product and service quality are ranked high, private and public companies providing quality certificates and total quality management deriving from this development. (Wilkinson, 1998). Others have expressed the quality development as the end of mass and the start of a new production paradigm, based upon flexible specialization (Piore and Sabel, 1984). In view of the prevailing trend, increased product quality and a higher degree of liability towards customers no longer remain a mere possibility but are essential if market shares are to be retained and further developed.
Business Week (1997) ” for the nineteenth century and many years to come may quality have the largest priority in all organizations”
According to Oakland (1993, p. 3), quality management is driven by the competitive environment and is universal for all types of organizations: ”Whatever type of organizations you are working in – a hospital, universities, bank, insurance company, airline company, students, or whatever company you are working in – competition is common: Competition among students, customers, resources etc. Very few organizations do not see quality as a most important element in the battle for competitive advantages.”
The management interest in quality is not new but using quality as a key element in the battle for competitive advantages is of recent date. Oakland (1989) claims that after the industrial revolution, and the computer revolution in the beginning of the 1980’es, we are now in the midst of a quality revolution. Surveys conducted by various organizations have revealed an increase in quality movements. These include the movement best known as total quality management; this has been widely acknowledged as a major innovation in management theory (Ishikawa, 1985).
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The approach to or the philosophy of total quality management is, however, not obvious. Even Deming acknowledged that he did not know what it meant precisely (Boje,1993). There are a number of reasons for this ambiguity. The first problem is to define the concept quality. Secondly, the large variation in activities, practice, and techniques renders it hard to define what total quality management really means. Knutton (1994) claims that even though the introduction of total quality management may be similar in different organizations, organizations may well have very different ways of working with total quality management.
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1.1 Definitions of Total Quality Management
Dean and Bowen (1994) have analyzed the total quality management literature, claiming that the key points of total quality management are those of customer focus, continual improvements, and teamwork. Each of these points will be implemented through a number of practices, like gathering customer items of information and analyzing processes by applying specific quality techniques. Raffio (1993) further includes the involvement of employees as well as management commitment, as basic principles of total quality management while Hart and Bogan (1992) identify the distinction of total quality management as a penetrating customer oriented approach to managing quantity for competitive advantage.
Powell (1995) sees total quality management as a cultural change combined with elements from Deming, Juran, Crosby and the American Baldrige Award, and presents 12 characteristics of total quality management.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
Committed management Adopting and communicating about Total Quality Management Closer customer relations Closer provider relations Benchmarking Increased training Open organization Employee empowerment Zero failure mentality Flexible production Process improvements Process measuring
The British Quality Association (BQA) has three alternative definitions of total quality management. The first focuses on soft qualitative attributes, containing elements such as customer oriented, cultural as advantage, removal of performance barrier, teamwork, training and involvement of employees.
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The second BQA definition comprises production aspects such as systematic measuring and control of the work, setting standards for performance and the use of statistical procedures to achieve quantity. This definition focuses, contrary to the first, on hard quantitative attributes. A similar definition on total quality management is provided by Steingard and Fitzgibbons (1993, p.27-42). They define total quality management as a set of techniques and procedures which should be used to reduce or eliminate variations in production process. The third BQA definition is a mixture of the two previous definitions which provide an acknowledgement of the scientific as well as the humanistic approaches.
Oakland (1993, p.2-3) defines total quality management as the way for the management to improve effectiveness, flexibility, and competitive advantages for the organization as a whole because it complies with the internal and external customer requirements. He sees the essence of the total quality management concept as a triangle, each corner being a key point; the management commitment, statistical process control, and teamwork. In this triangle, the points are connected as a chain but they are also interdependent of one another. Some have argued that the chain could be broken at any of these points by a person or a tool, and therefore fail to meet customer requirements. But according to Oakland (1993), the internal customer focus throughout the chain builds an internal customer environment which will provide compensation if the chain should break. The triangle has management commitment as the height, a position upon which most total quality management theorists would agree.
Even though the explicit definition of total quality management is not obvious, there are some basic principles in total quality management making for a joint approach. Hill and Wilkinson (1995) have identified the principles outlined below:
Customer oriented: Quality means complying with customer requirements; customers are both internal and external, and quality oriented management will need to meet customer requirements. Customer orientation does generate throughout the organization a shared aim for all activities while integrating quality in the design as well as in the specifications. Customer expectations for a design or specifications must be transformed in order that the organization may adapt these expectations to activities required for production. This is accomplished by using a customer perspective because no
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matter how many productions and vast improvement the organization makes, it will be to no avail unless customers are willing to buy the product, based on the idea that a product can do no more than it has been designed for. Design and specifications are equally important. And if an organization focuses on one of these only, it will deteriorate. An organization may provide the right design quality, a product which customers would want to buy - but could lose out by not having the right specifications required. Similarly, a product providing the right specifications only may not meet customer design requirements.
Process oriented: The tasks or processes in an organization are connected in a series of quality chains working across the conventional internal functional principles. Every process in a quality chain has a customer, beginning with the internal customer in an organization, and continuing to be subjected to various stage processes until the product actually reaches the external customer. In this manner, total quality management attempts, by way of teamwork and cooperation, to involve all organization levels in delivering quality to internal customers, and ultimately to external customers.
Continuous Improvements:
To comply with customer requirements involves continuous
improvements of products and processes. The most efficient method to create improvement is to let the staff performing the particular work identify and implement the particular improvement in their daily work. Even through continuous improvement involves all staff, this should be viewed from the angle that it is the management that has the responsibility for the development and the change in the organization. ”The role for the employees is to assist…. To eliminate errors in products or processes and also to give the worker a chance to use they brains and make them contribute to continuous improvements within their organization” Lillrank and Canoe (1989, p.29).
Improvement Tools: These tools are statistic process control methods, to be used by all staff to simplify processes and process reorganizing.
Measuring: Monitoring the cost of quantity and customer satisfaction denotes a recent effort in total quality management; it is a supplement to the more traditional way of measuring failure and variations. The cost of quantity is a financial measure of the quality performance; it may be described as follows: Preventing expenses – checking and testing incoming components, inspecting products prior to their leaving the organization, routine inspection maintenance; failure expenses –
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waste, scrap, double work; Estimating expenses – inspection, inspection with vendors, estimate activities.
Organization Approach: This includes implementation of groups, commitment to quality, planning of cross functional workgroups, changing staff role towards a customer oriented role, teamwork and an extended cooperation with suppliers about continuous quality improvements. The management of the organization needs quality planning as a component in their strategic planning. Those responsible for the political messages in the organization should make sure that the quality concept becomes well known by all staff. The new infrastructure in the organization is seen as a necessity for total quality management as it will pick up and gather all in the organization and provide its continuous survival.
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1.2 Emerging Problems
The literature argues that total quality management is about complying with customer requirements. The internal staff, not in direct touch with external customers, are being encouraged to regard their colleagues as customers, establishing internal organization relations similar to the relations of the organization to its external customers. Making the staff customer oriented, focusing on the aim of continuously improving customer satisfaction. Achieving successful implementation of total quality management will thus require all staff to effect continuous improvements as an integrated part of their daily work. In this connection, several theorists assert that the organization will need to develop a quality culture (Glover, 1993). The literature on total quality management does, however, stress the need of the management to try to get staff commitment to total quality management but the literature offers little comment as to whether commitment to total quality management does in fact materialize.
Hill (1991, p.541- 569) Solutions for technical issues like the design of quality systems and procedures are very specific but there are holes in the method as to how one should deal with the social factors.
The total quality management literature argues that commitment by the staff and by the middle managers to total quality management should be generated by way of education and training as well as by personal experience. The reason for this assumption is that staff and middle managers will gain satisfaction through continuous improvements and by doing a good job. Based on the idea of mutual commitment, the total quality organization will comply with individual demand for job satisfaction and for self realization, and the organization will achieve its aims based on individual satisfaction. Nevertheless, Hill (2003) states that the literature on total quality management has underrated the prevailing difficulties in making all of the employees of an organization buy the idea of total quality management. Traditional work practice and management style do not conform to total quality management, and the idea of total quality management could encounter resistance not only by the general staff but also by the middle managers as subordinates assume increased impact and influence, and total quality management could entail a larger workload. In this connection, Schuler and Harris (1992) argue that the staff of a total quality organization will gain deeper insight in the information and a greater liability for their own work. This will change
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the traditional middle manager task which used to cover measuring and coordination of the instructions issued by the top management. The middle manager function in total quality management organization is one of acting as a sparring partner for the staff - a function which will require new abilities and a change of attitude by middle managers. Generally, the staff and middle managers of a total quality management organization should assume greater responsibility for the same wages and salaries. An implementation of total quality management might evoke a fear of loosing workplaces. It should then not be taken for granted that staff and middle management would necessarily be enthusiastic about total quality management.
1.3 Research Questions
General research questions
Viewed through a critical perspective on the literature of total quality management. 1. What implications are there in building a quality culture ? 2. What potential problems might arise due to an implementation ?
Research questions
In the context of the implementation of total quality management in the Grundfos Group. 1. What strategic role did the human resource management play in the implementation ?
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2. The Research Area and Theoretical Context
Based on the research questions and overall purposes discussed, this thesis focuses mainly on the five concepts of total quality management, implementation, culture, human resource management, work environment in general.
2.1 Total Quality Management and Organization Culture
Total quality management works with an open management style with a delegation of liability. The aim is to develop a quality culture in which everyone working in the organization will share a commitment to continuous improvements in order to satisfy customers. But according to (IPM,1993) research, despite increased attention to the culture issues, still devotes very little attention to the practical day-to-day process of changing the culture of the organization. Further, the literature of culture argues about the difficulties involved in changing the culture of an organization (Ogbonna, 1993). Schein (2004) for instance views culture as something which, according to him, includes three levels as illustrated in Figure 1. • • •
Artifacts refer to the visible organization structure and processes. Espoused values refer to the strategies, objectives, and philosophies. Basic underlying assumptions refer to the unconscious, taken-for-granted beliefs, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings.
Schein (1992) argues that the pattern of basic underlying assumptions may act as a cognitive defense mechanism for individuals or groups, thus making culture changes difficult, time consuming, and anxiety provoking. Cultures are deep seated, pervasive and complex, and it may prove an extremely difficult experience to bring these assumptions to the surface. (Schein) 1 ” Organization learning, evolution and planned changes cannot be understood without taking care of the culture as the primary cause of resistance towards the change”
1
www.onepine.info/pschein.htm
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Schein (1992) identifies management as a subculture in every organization and argues that the management as an introduction to a change of the organization culture should discuss their own culture to a degree which would make it accessible to identify their subculture, and thus a lean new method to reflect and change their culture, as an unfreeze phase – cognitive restructure phase – refreeze phase of their shared culture before they try to implement the change in the organization culture. (Schein, 1992) method for change is based upon Kurt Lewin´s change theory. • • •
Unfreezing Cognitive restructuring Refreezing
Others theorists claim that there are separate subcultures and occupational cultures which are influenced by internal and external factors. According to Meyerson and Martin (1987), this would question the assumption that an organization has one shared culture, and if that culture is relatively simple, it could be changed by the management. Even assuming that only one shared culture exists, it would still be a problem for the management to implement total quality management because the existing culture could resist the change, acting as a barrier to the implementation. In a research of 15 English companies, it was analyzed which method the management had applied to handle the culture in their organizations. Williams (1998, p. 37) has, with reference to the research unfolded, five methods which were commonly applied by the management.
1. Changing the composition of the members in the organization through selective recruitment and dismissal programs with the aim of getting new colleagues with the correct attitude as well as the technical skills and experience. This might call for the use of more sophisticated hire techniques such as physical testing, rating center, and bio data. 2. Moving colleagues to new functions in order to destroy old subcultures. 3. Providing colleague training and role models to achieve the culture required. This would involve middle managers and managers who should act as role models and show personal commitment to the new aim. 4. Training colleagues in the new working method, changing their attitudes towards their tasks. 5. Changing the work environment, HR policies, and the management style in general.
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With reference to the survey, it was also mentioned that attempts to manage the culture would frequently be more successful when the changes where caused by critical factors, such as a decline in markets, new competition or financial problems. This would help organization staff realize the necessity for the particular change. (Schein) 2 seems to agree in respect of the arguments about structure, systems and procedures as an important mechanism when dealing with the culture changes but he regards them as secondary in relation to: Leadership: ”This ability to perceive the limitations of one’s own culture and to develop the culture adaptively is the essence and ultimate challenge of leadership.” Education: ”The culture of a group is a pattern of shared assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and fall in relation to those problems.” HR policies and practice ”Every group must know what its heroic and sinful behaviours are, and must achieve consensus on what is a reward, and what is a punishment.”
The literature agues therefore for a more complex and comprehensive changing agenda towards an implementation of total quality management, leadership, human resources, and the work environment in general being important elements.
2
www.onepine.info/pschein.htm
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3. Strategic Human Resource Management
In recent years, the strategic contribution of the human resource management has, in order to meet organizations overall aims, been widely acknowledged. In most cases has this meant that the management has changed their methods of how they are working with their personal policies. Ulrich (2003) claims that human resource management shall, if it does not already do so, act as a strategic partner for the organization. This means that the human resource management should contribute to the company´s achievements by translating all of the overall strategies into human resource practice. The human resource department should no longer be viewed as a special function concentrating on staff in a manner separate from the overall organization strategy.
Walker (1992, p. 2)” The task for the HR function is to ensure that all HR activities be focused on the organization requirements. All HR activities should therefore be adjusted towards the organization demands and be reflected in the HR strategy. The HR strategy connection be adjusted towards the organization strategy” should in this
According to this, the human resource management strategy should be adjusted towards the organization strategy, thus creating and establishing a fit between the human resource management strategy and organization strategy with the separate human resource tasks, such as employment, wage negotiation, and employee development; these elements are to be adjusted so as to constitute a coherent whole. This is referred to as the Machting Model in the human resource literature. (Boxall, 1992). Illustrated in Figure 2.
Evans and Lindsay (1999) research surveys also show how different organization strategies will call for different human resource management strategies, each requiring different staff roles, and these will in turn require different human resource policies in order to meet the demand for the different employee roles. Arthur (1992) has further conducted similar Macht´s between organization strategies and human resource management strategies.
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3.1 Organization Strategy
According to the literature of organization strategies, one of the three strategies outlined below is dominant (Evans and Lindsay, 1999). • • •
Cost Reduction Quality Enhancement Innovation
It should, however, be mentioned that there are organizations who choose to use one or several of the above strategies, for instance Honda in America who applies the quality enhancement and innovation strategy (Evans and Lindsay, 1999). The development of strategies in a considerable number of organizations has, according to Walton (1985), in recent years gone from a strategy of control of the individual towards a strategy focusing on commitment, flexible job functions, teamwork, involvement of employees, and a flattened organizational structure. The argument for this development rests on increased market competition mainly due to the globalization and government liberalization but also because customers have become more demanding not only on price but also in respect of selection, quality, services, and design. Consequently, it is argued (Guest, 1987) that there is a need of winning staff commitment in favour of quantity and flexibility objectives. The change in competition, the need to comply with increasing customer requirements, and the call for flexibility and staff commitment, would all appear to reflect that total quality management and more fashionable organizations strategies have much in common. Whether total quality management is a quality enhancement strategy or an innovation strategy, or a combination of these, is basically immaterial. The essence is that an implementation of total quality management would frequently require an equivalent change in the human resource management strategy in order to create the employees which would be required in the context of total quality management.
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4. Human Resource Management
Devanna, Fombrum and Tichy (1984) illustrate, by way of Figure 3, the various tasks of human resource management. Selection: Devanna, Fombrum and Tichy (1984) claims, as illustrated by Figure 3 that the attempt to develop a quality culture starts with the selection of employees with the appropriate characteristics. Effective recruitment is consequently important, and specific media for advertising and formulations should be selected with a view to hiring staff. Realistic and precise job adds which would inspire candidates to reflect on their abilities in relation to the particular job while selective methods in the organization should test applicant abilities in problem-solving and teamwork (Bowen and Lawler, 1992).
Industrial Relations Review and Report (1991) claims that there is ample evidence testifying how organizations identify the selection of staff as a key area in total quality management. On this aspect, Storey (1992) mentions how some total quality organizations used tests in the selection of foremen and hourly-paid workers in order to measure their abilities to think independently, work in teams and in a general spirit of cooperation. After the selection and the integration of the new staff in the organization, the human resource cycle will move its focus on to the organization’s performance as manifested by control, rewards, and development.
Performance: Some theorists have claimed that performance control plays a major role in the development, communication, and measuring of quality standards (Deblieux, 1991). However, experience has shown that the result of the performance might be unable to reach the targets and would thus frequently degenerate into an empty ritual (Snape, 1994). Further, many authors on total quality management, especially W.E. Deming, assert that control of the performance does not fit the idea of total quality management (Evans and Lindsay, 1999). W.E Deming maintains that variations in performance will mainly derive from the work process, and not from the individual employee.
W.E. Deming: ” If an employee is told by the manager to cut the plates exactly 2,536 mm long, and the employee is equipped with nothing but a rip saw, a table, as well as a tape measure, it would not be possible for the employee to cut all the plates exactly 2,536 mm long. Improvements
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in the work process would only be gained if the management would invest in an electrical saw, a cutting table, and more precise measuring equipment. It is, however, up to the particular staff member to report whenever the saw blade might, for instance, be worn down” 3
Improvements should occur through changes of processes rather than through control of the staff; according to Deming this is the key to develop cooperation teams (Evans and Lindsay, 1999). Deming argues that it is difficult to gain any kind of cooperation if the management focuses on blaming the individual employee as was the case in the traditional control of performance. Deming further argues that this would generate a work environment of fear in which the staff would rather avoid any form of risk while merely concentrating on short-term potential and individual performance – an attitude which would undermine cooperation, creativity, and the committed pattern of behaviour needed to create continuous improvement (Evans and Lindsay, 1999). Others have asserted that there is a need for a change leading away from the traditional and individual control of performance towards a more process-oriented and teamwork-measuring type of performance to be manifested in the total quality management work (Glover, 1993). Western management has, however, generally demonstrated a dislike of the removal of control with regard to performance. Even in organizations which had implemented total quality management, such organizations have frequently done so alongside their existing control system (Bowen and Lawler, 1992). Several authors claim that something should be done about the control sheets to make these more effective, a proposal aiming to remove the traditional hierarchical structure and to involve employees further down the organization in control of the performance. In total quality management seeing the customer, external or internal, as the highest instance in control of performance, it would seem logic to include the customer. This could also support the collaboration between the various teams, suppliers, and customers, and develop a more open and positive organization (Redman, 1992).
3
The Managemennt and control of quality, page 77
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Development: Training and development are recognized by most theorists as being essential in an implementation of total quality management. The literature of total quality management also focuses intensively on management training in quality tools and techniques. Rewards: Bowen and Lawer (1992) claim that total quality management removes the traditional career ladder because of the flat flexible structure within the organization. Total quality management sets, on the other hand, the cross functional experience as a reward. A key element in the cycle is that of rewards in order to retain and motivate the spaff, especially in work areas facing major competition. In the attempt to hold on to employees, rewards such as cash may play an important role. In the literature of total quality management, the subject of rewards such as cash is, however, controversial. There is, however, a general agreement that result-based output systems may destroy staff commitment and motivation towards quality improvements. Particularly Deming is against rewards such as those of cash. As mentioned above, he asserts that it is the very recognition that quality works that is the reward.
Some total quality management theorists have argued that the road towards developing a quality culture goes through public recognition in the organization and mention of the use of a reward system as a method to generate successful performance or results. Such a system could either involve a recognition or a reward such as cash in order to gain public recognition among the other employees. Other authors, however, assume an attitude of doubting any such proposition but acknowledge that rewards and recognition may be used as part of an implementation of total quality management if the management be aware that rewards and recognition will not be sufficient to build a quality culture.
According to Drummond and Chell (1992), the staff might presume that they would increase their wages owing to their increased liability, and that they would also receive a part of the financial gain thus created. If this is not realized, the organization might risk staff disillusion with total quality management. Walker (1992) claims that total quality management will regularly fail after 3 to 5 years after the implementation because the staff will lose interest in the prizes , the recognition, and because of their expectations of a financial reward due to their contribution to the quality improvements.
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This is indeed a controversial area. Implementation of total quality management will most likely require a search for new ways of dealing with this area. Bowen and Lawler (1992) argues that the trend is moving towards a group-oriented recognition aiming to support the team, as well as a skillbased reward targeting an increase in individual skills. This is more in line with total quality management and could be a means of support for or a substitution of the more traditional rewards and recognition.
4.1 Human Resource Perspective and W. E. Deming Perspective
The human resource management cycle focuses on the individual employee by way of control, rewards, and development efforts in the attempt to create a commitment towards continuous quality improvements. Another perspective (Deming, 1982) is the focus on improving the system. The essence of these two perspectives is the cause of variation in performance.
HRM perspective Focus on performance improvements HRM implications Individual performance
W.E. Demings perspective_________
System improvements
______________________________________________________ Individual control Avoid blaming the individual ”drive out fear” Rewards Education, training Recognition on quantity, training and education. Leadership
___________________________________________________________________________
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The human resource management perspective assumes implicitly that organization performance efficiency may be controlled by focusing on the performance of the individual employee. In contrast to this stands the perspective taken by (Deming, 1982). He divides organization performance into two categories. The first category in which the variation is brought about by the individual employee – a process which he characterizes as one of special reasons. The second category in which the variation is due to the organization, a category characterized as one of normal reasons. Deming (1982) argues that the special reasons category includes but a small part in relation to the normal reasons of variation. According to Deming, attempts to control an organization as in the human resource management perspective will come out as a definite failure because this will take the focus off the normal reasons of variation, and also undermine the staff behaviour of practicing continuous improvements.
These perspectives offer two different hypotheses: Whereas one focuses on control/management of the individual employee, the other focuses on improvements of the organization.
Deming argues, as mentioned above, that the individual reward and individual control will actually undermine the kind of staff behaviour which was intended to contribute to continuous improvement. Deming could have a point in his argument against blaming the individual employee for the variations in the organization, and it is also acknowledged that measuring of individual performance might result in staff demoralizing . However, in recent years there has been increasing interest in combining these two hypotheses. Waldman (1994) has a theory about performance focusing on staff factors (awareness, skills, attitude, and individual motivation) and also on the system factors (work environment restrictions and requirements). Waldman argues that these factors affect one another, and together they will constitute a determinant for the performance of the organization. This is in agreement with the fact that the human resource policies may support the development of the necessary motivation, behaviour, and competences required for implementation of total quality management. This further implies that the work environment and job design will have an impact on the commitment to continuous improvements by the particular staff member.
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5. Work Environment and Job Design
Oliver (1988) characterizes total quality management as a change in the management strategy according to which the organization will abandon a strategy of direct control in favour of a strategy of autonomous liability and control. He believes that in the attempt to develop staff commitment towards total quality management, the organization will need to change the traditional implementation methods of total quality management. He argues instead for a change in the context of work performance in order to influence the behaviour shown by the staff, with a view to creating a commitment to total quality management. He regards behaviour as being widely controlled by its social context of work performance. The work performance environment is, according to him, created by four elements. As illustrated in Figure 4. • Explicitness refers to the need of having clearly defined and specified job responsibilities because the individual employee will be more inclined to perceive a liability if job responsibilities are/remain unclear. • Revocability refers to a situation in which there would be less or no control of individual task performance – in which the individual would feel a higher degree of liability for the task. • Publicity refers to the position in which individual actions, and the consequences of same, would be visible to other employees, thus rendering the individual more personally responsible. The argument is one of social pressure and of individual need of recognition. • Volition refers to a situation in which the individual would feel that he/she has control over own actions, and also on the aspect of his/her own level of potential. The argument being that each of these factors will be positive in relation to the individual feeling a liability and a commitment, and this may thus apply pressure on the individual to act in a particular way.
Oliver argues how the environment in an organization could be built up so as to support total quality management. By setting up performance indicators for the development of explicitness and publicity. And by removing quality control in the traditional sense towards the development of revocability and involving the staff in decision-making in order to the develop volition.
Others claim that it is the design of the job function which is important to achieve staff commitment to continuous improvements. Lucas (1999) for instance, argues that the staff would only indicate a
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commitment if their jobs are meaningful, involving some measure of liability, and enabling the individual to register own performance. These arguments calls upon attention to the work environment and the design of the job function as important elements in the creation of a commitment to continuous improvements. This is in contrast to a host of total quality management literature claiming that the staff commitment should be generated through management change of attitudes, settings, education and training.
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5.1 Employee Involvement
Total quality management literature claims that employees are forced to realize the process in continuous improvements and must be actively involved (Crosby, 1995),(Deming,1982). Ishikawa ( 1985, p.112): The management and the middle managers have to be courageous enough and delegate as much liability as possible. This is the way to build respect for the humanity in your management philosophy. A management system in which all staff, from the top to the bottom, will participate, and humanity be fully respected.
The literature of total quality management calls attention to autonomy, creativity, active cooperation, and self control by the staff, involvement of the employees being an important element. Wilkinson (1994, p.279) has identified three phases in which total quality management organizations involves employees. • •
The first phase is in the process of using videos, meetings, posters, newsletters etc. used to disseminate the message about total quality management among the staff. The second phase is in the participation in the principal structures of total quality management, such as quality circles, improvements and teams which are established ad hoc or on a more permanent basic.
•
The third phase is how total quality management will change the way the organization works. Total quality management will eliminate control tasks or reduce their number, will demand teamwork, will try to create a more mobile organization, and will establish autonomous groups.
There are two underlying assumptions in this; first, you have commitment, self control and delegation of the liability referred to which would rest on a theory Y view on the individual. This is characterized by self control and liability which will make the individual act in a manner committed and motivated. The Y view on the individual is in contrast to the theory X view, the latter characterizing the individual as lazy and having a need of monitoring and control. According to the Y view, total quality management holds out a positive and promising message to the staff as total quality management offers an opportunity to realize individual potential in a challenging and satisfying work environment.
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Another assumption could lead to a less optimistic conclusion. Total qualitymanagement implicates the assumption that everyone in the organization would share a set of interests and values which the management has the right to control and change. The changes undertaken by the management will automatically be accepted and recognized as valid by all staff (Wilkinson, 1991). Customer defined goals in total quality management are rarely questioned, and the management may then reduce this to a technical matter which transforms inputs to outputs in order to maximize customer satisfaction.
Staff involvement constitutes a widely discussed subject in the total quality management literature but the attention in the literature is focused upon the individual work rather than involvement in wider areas such as business strategy, investments etc.
Cappelli and Rogovsky (1994, p. 207) “ Based upon staff now being asked about joining in on the design of their work, and considering that the individual routine could now comprise a larger range of tasks, this could make total quality management attractive to the staff but the fact still remains that their participation is limited to their particular work area.
Critical evaluation has also viewed total quality management and JIT ( Just in Time ) production systems as part of an attempt to intensify the work by reducing the production time and increasing the workload of the individual through teamwork (Dawson and Webb, 1989). According to this interpretation, total quality management could be a simple episode in the long struggle about the border of control. Thus, there is a clear sharing of the views between those who view total quality management as leading to empowerment, and those who view total quality management as an intensification of the work.
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5.2 The Labour Unions
The literature of total quality management does not deal extensively with unions and collective agreements. An abstention could be critical as the traditional pattern in pluralistic industrial relations has accepted unions as legitimate representatives for the employee interest in respect of wages, benefits, and working conditions. In some cases did union representatives actually express the view that an implementation of total quality management would be a management decision which would not directly implicate their members. But wherever total quality management has been implemented, and the organizational and industrial relation implications have become clearer, the labour union would probably assume a rather more questioning attitude. This was the case at British Telecom (Ferner and Colling, 1991) in which the labour union prevented the total quality management process using arguments to the effect that it would require a large workforce to deliver the quantity the customers demanded. Unions have also expressed some amount of scepticism about the substance of the initiatives suchaas as total quality management, employee involvement, human resource and customer services programs (Heery, 1993). Labour unions may also fear that any such development would see them marginalized, and that their role in the workplaces might be threatened through the establishment of new communication channels focusing on the individual and smaller groups rather than on the collective. Unions have, however, been more concerned about the detailed impact on their members of the potential use of customer information to discipline employees, and about implications resulting from more flexible working hours and patterns (Heery, 1993). Employees and their unions might also fear the intensification of the work through total quality management at the higher level of liability and pressure, while seeing but a small reward, or none at all.
This leads back to the previous discussion on total quality management and rewards by which employees could expect a reward along with the additional achievement, a view or position which could be difficult for the management to resist without risking opposition and lack of motivation. Unions are, however, not necessarily against total quality management. In a report on human resource management, it was suggested that the management and the labour union should develop a type of cooperation about the design and the implementation of the changes in the organization. Another report published by managers and union managers also argues in favour of a cooperation at the workplace level (Marchington, 1995). How widely diffused such points of views would be
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would depend particularly on specific details in the organization change and the national trade union policy.
6. The HR Department in Total Quality Management
As for the importance of the human resource tasks in the implementation of total quality management, it is relevant to ascertain which tasks human resource employees would be assigned in this context. They are expected to be involved in the design and in the implementation of the new human resource policies as a matter of necessity to support the change. Such policies seem like critical symbols of the change so the human resources department contribution is one of the significant areas of total quality management. The human resource department has, however, for a long time been recognized as an ambiguous function the contribution of which to organization aims could be difficult to estimate. Human resource employees may also find it difficult to clearly define their particular expertise for generally all managers are concerned about the management of the staff. However, in recent years a stronger profile of the human resource tasks in the organization has emerged but it does not necessarily lead to a stronger profile of the human resource department, merely because the staff and the management show a higher degree of attention and liability to the tasks of the human resource department. (Storey, 1992). In fact, some tasks would be considered too important to leave for human resource department attention in view of the limited attention devoted by human resource staff to the real tasks of the organization, the lack of management faith in the function, as well as its own lack of skills/competences and / or self-confidence (Bowen and Lawler, 1992).
The research conducted by Wilkinson and Marchington (1994) contributes to the understanding of the human resource tasks in the design and in the implementation of total quality management. Their research of 15 organizations described four roles adopted by human resource staff in the design and in the implementation of total quality management. They distinguish between four roles having two dimensions, as illustrated in Figure 5.First, assuming that the human resource department has participated at a strategic or at an operational level. It is a question of the difference between a highly administrative level and a very directly involved level. Secondly, they distinguish between a high profile and a low profile of the human resource department. The high profile is extremely visible to the other managers and staff while the low profile will act in a rather more back-stage manner.
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The first role is that of the Facilitator. It was found in all the studies involving the human resource department in the implementation of total quality management, especially at the operational level. Involving training of the middle management, elaboration of news letters and other communication related tasks. Even through this role is seen as essential according to the survey, it really entails no more than routine practice in a human resource department.
The second role is that of the Internal Contractor. This role did involve the human resource department in setting aims and standards for the human resource policies addressing internal customers. In their research, the clearest example was that of a software enterprise. They had set aims for the human resource department services targeting internal customers, evaluating these with internal customers. Further, Bowen and Lawler (1992) have offered their version of how the Internal Contractor role could work in respect of total quality management. According to them, the human resource department should strive to make things right the first time in order to avoid conversion of failure training programs or rewards. There should be explicit focus on customer requirements with customer-oriented programs instead of standard programs. This would involve the customers, at the level of middle management or employees, in the specification and design of the product. The implementation of total quality management in the human resource department would also involve empowerment of the department staff.
While the Internal Contractor and The facilitator works at the operational level rather than at the strategic level, the Internal Contractor keeps a high profile because of its role of stating and communicating quantity standards to internal customers. The third role is that of the Change Agent who maintains a high profile and works at the strategic level. In extreme cases, the human resource department may play a major role in the design of the total quality management program, improving its foundation with a view to developing a quantity culture and assist in the control of the program. Total quality management is thus seen as synonymous with an organization change, and the human resource department as a part of the organization which will be best placed to define and lead the process. This role was observed in several of the companies covered by the survey. Though clearest in the case of Ilford Ltd. where it was widely recognized in the organization that the human resource department did have an important role in the development of total quality management and actually worked as a motivating power in the change.
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The fourth role is that of the Hidden Persuader. Entailing that the human resource department will play a strategic role in the beginning of the work with total quality management, for instance as a critical participant in management discussion regarding the implementation of total quality management. Opposite the Change Agent we find the Hidden Persuader role, not especially visible to middle managers and employees but acting rather as a guide for the management. This view was held by Racal Facts Networks managers who opted for using the human resource department because they considered the function as one run by a a neutral department which would create an overview of the changing processes and act as a non-partisan part in valuing various interests within the organization.
It is hardly surprising that there are a number of pitfalls in these roles. The Change Agent, manifesting the visible and important role, may risk the transfer of its entire role to another department if the total quality management program fails. In contrast to this, we have the Hidden Persuader whose only risk is one of getting but a small part, if any, of the honour of success, a risk also valid for the The Facilitator. The Internal Contractor carries the obvious risk of not achieving the required aims, thus losing the confidence of the other departments. However, a human resource department is not limited to choosing just one of the four roles but could retain several roles. It is thus possible to act as The Facilitator during training and promotion of the communication initiatives, while still participating in strategic design of the total quality management, as the Hidden Persuader.
To which extent the human resource department would take over on one or several roles in an implementation of total quality management is not merely a matter of a decision made by the human resource department. Much will depend on on three critical factors. The first factor is that of the existing status and style of the department; a department which so far has performed only basic staff work will probably not have the necessarily expertise and credibility required in order to assume a strategic role in the implementation of total quality management. The second factor is that the human resource department will regularly point to initiatives different from those of the production department, and may thus risk being marginalized in the organization. The third factor is that of the history of quality management. Since the previous system-based method applied in quality management is acknowledged to have failed, this may in fact offer the
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department an opportunity to assume a more strategic role. The role of the human resource department does, however, not necessarily have be permanent because of the continuous processes in total quality management which will provide for the human resource department an opportunity of being involved in a large-scale or smaller extension over time. The human resource department could, for instance, be highly involved in the design and implementation phase; subsequently, the department may step “back-stage”, and from this point encourage the organization to demonstrate liability towards quantity. Again, the human resource department might be periodically involved in process evaluation such as reflected in surveys, analysis, and training.
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6.1 Total Quality Management and the Future HR Department
It is the intention that the human resource department should move towards the part as an Internal Contractor for production line middle manager as those who would define customer needs and would keep open the option of rejecting the services offered or the proposals made by the human resource department. The human resource department would have to accept the conditions and values set by production line middle managers. Nevertheless, Fowler (1993) claims that the role for the human resource department should not be limited to satisfy production line middle managers. According to Fowler (1993), the role of the human resource department is to contribute to the realization of the overall aims of the organization. If the human resource department is to retain its professional integrity, they will need to go beyond the narrow Facilitator and Internal Contractor role and take on a rather more strategic role. Fowler (1993, p. 29) argues in that context that an effective human resource department will consist of three qualities: • • •
Professional knowledge and expertise. Usefulness on the demands from the organization to achieve overall short-term and long- term objectives. A proactive approach, proposing changes and modifications rather than merely acting on the strength of views held by other parties.
The question is then if the human resource department actually has the three qualities held out by Fowler. First, he mentions professional knowledge and expertise. A research by Millard (1992) showed that only 54 % of the British industrial human resource managers had the professional or educational qualifications pertaining to their work. Their number has, however, been increasing in the early 1980’s but has been falling in recent years. Consequently, it should not be taken for granted that the human resource department will actually have the professional knowledge and expertise required. To which extent the personnel department has proved its relevance in relation to organization shortterm and long-term aims and objectives, and in respect of their ability to act proactively, may also be questioned. Purcell and Ahlstrand (1994) studies of human resource department influence on the organization strategies revealed that the human resource department would typically only get involved in the implementation and on matters and subjects which would rarely be of any major importance. Other functions, such as those of finance and technology, proved, on the other hand, to
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be crucial to the choice of strategy. According to this, the human resource department would have but limited influence on the strategical level, as compared with that of the other departments. Further, their study illustrated that none of the proactive initiatives actually creating a change in the organizations derived from the human resource department. Storey (1996) claims, nevertheless, that even though the human resource department may be marginalized in major organizations, the other departments will acknowledge the significance of the human resource department in the process of change.
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7. Case Study of the Role of the HR Department.
The present case study was conducted in the Grundfos Group, one of the leading pump unit manufacturers in the world. In order to carry out the study, plant visits were made at various Grundfos Group locations in Denmark by the author on several occasions from March, 2006, to May, 2006. During these plant visits, the data presented were obtained.
7.1 Facts about the Grundfos Group
Establishment: Grundfos was established in 1945 by the late Poul Due Jensen. At the outset, he named his company: "Bjerringbro Pressestøberi og Maskinfabrik" (Bjerringbro Die-Casting and Machine Factory) and not until 1967, after several changes of names, did the company get its present name, that of GRUNDFOS.
Products: With an annual production of more than 10 million pump units, Grundfos is one of the world's leading pump manufacturers. Circulator pumps, submersible pumps, and centrifugal pumps are the three major product groups. Today, Grundfos is the world's largest manufacturer of circulator pumps, covering approximately 50 percent of the world market for these pumps. In addition to pumps, Grundfos manufactures electric motors for the pumps and runs a considerable production of electric motors for separate merchandising. Further, Grundfos develops and sells state-of-the-art electronics for controls for pumps and other systems. Applications: Circulator pumps are used for heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning in domestic houses, office buildings, hotels, etc. In the industry, the pumps are used in processes as well as in the area of plant maintenance; further, as important built-in parts in OEM products. In the watersupply and waste-water segment Grundfos offers a wide range of reliable pumps for irrigation, green houses and for municipal, private and industrial water supply as well as sewage applications. Global Expansion: The Grundfos Group is represented by 72 companies in 41 countries. In addition, Grundfos products are merchandised by distributors in a large number of countries.
Master Thesis, Blekinge Institute Of Technology 2006 Key figures (in DKK million) 2005 Turnover Ordinary profit before tax Profit before tax as % of turnover Equity Capital Return on Equity Capital Total Assets Number of employees 13,422 1,254 9.3% 5,994 12.7% 13,166 13,369 2004 12,153 1,232 10.1% 5,150 14.2% 11,798 12,586
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7.2 The Grundfos Group Mission and Vision
The Mission. It is their mission to successfully develop, produce, and sell high-quality pumps and pumping systems world-wide, contributing to a better quality of life and to a healthy environment.
The Vision. Their customers acknowledge them as the leading producer and partner when it comes to high-quality pumps - both in terms of performance and of environment. Their employees thrive and demonstrate their satisfaction because their jobs and working conditions offer great opportunities for professional and personal growth and development. In addition, their satisfaction stems from a good work environment, allowing for considering individual wishes and qualifications. The surrounding society recognizes and regards Grundfos with respect as a result of their responsible conduct in relation to the laws of their society, the principles of democracy, local traditions, as well as the environment - as well as their relations to the people whose lives and circumstances they touch.
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7.3 Quality in the Grundfos Group
The Pillars of Grundfos Total Quality Management Process From the very beginning, the fundamental principles of the TQM process have been communicated in the organization through this graphic presentation of a house:
The commitment of the management is the foundation that has to support the bearing elements – focus on facts, customers, and employees, and participation by everyone and continuous improvements – in the work aiming for the target. The target – increasing competitive power – is the roof that rests on these three pillars. The symbolism is obvious: If the foundation or just one of the pillars crumbles, the roof will no longer be supported, and the competitive power thus cannot be intensified. According to the production assistent manager Thomas Hansen does Grundfos attaches great importance to the quality concept as an integral part of the entire organization and considers quality assurance a decisive parameter for continued growth of the Group. He argues further that quality management in the Grundfos Group shall be based on the zero-defect philosophy and implemented
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at all stages from product development through purchasing, production, and distribution to marketing and service. All employees are also according to the quality handbook in the Grundfos Group entitled and obliged to point out defects, and quality ranks as the highest priority whenever faults, or the risk of faults, are detected. Quality management in the development process shall be directed towards developing robust and reliable products which have the right functions for the customers, and which can be produced with zero defects. Quality management in production shall be directed towards zero-defect manufacture based on high process capability and full employee responsibility for own work. Regarding suppliers does SR manager Christian Hansen mention that the supplier quality assurance must be verified and approved before a purchase agreement is signed, and must be regularly revised to achieve continuous improvements. In- and outsourced products and services must fulfill the same requirements as Grundfos own products and processes. Market and individual company satisfaction with the products and services of the Group must be frequently monitored and documented, and unsatisfactory results must be promptly reacted to. Certification of the quality management system must be obtained for all production companies.
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7.4 Milestones for the Total Quality Management Process
1993: Establishment of self-functioning production groups which later resulted in a high degree of responsibility and involvement in the TQM-process on the part of all employees.
1995-1997: The senior management of Grundfos A/S decides to implement TQM. The decision is based on whole-hearted commitment at all levels of management and involvement of all employees, and on the implementation of the Business Excellence model.
1998-1999: The TQM process serves as a source of inspiration to the Group management when working to renew the mission, vision, and fundamental values of the Group.
1999: A Business Excellence concept targeting the production groups is developed.
1999: Grundfos A/S wins the Danish Quality Award.
2001: Grundfos A/S reaches the finals for the European Quality Award.
2003: In connection with the European Quality Award ceremony, 9 October 2003, Grundfos A/S is awarded the EFQM special prize for Leadership and Constancy of Purpose.
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8. The Roles of the Human Resource Department
The roles of the human resource department at different stages of the implementation of total quality management in the Grundfos Group are illustrated in Figure 6.
Phase I. Envisioning: The human resource department played a central role in creating and communicating the total quality management vision of the company to the effect that the Grundfos Group attaches great importance to the quality concept as an integral part of the entire organization and considers quality assurance a decisive parameter for continued growth of the Group.
Phase II. Preparing:. The preparatory stage is crucial as it paves the way for future total quality management activities and sets the speed. During this stage, the human resource department acted in close alliance with the total quality management group. The major activities undertaken by the human resource department during that stage are listed below: • • • • Assisting the top executives in drafting the quality policies, plans, systems, and procedures Hiring the consultant for development of quality statement, total quality management goals, and objectives Communication to employees, customers, suppliers, and others Decision to proceed and obtain the commitment from the top management to provide resources to implement total quality management Phase III. Implementing: The role played by the human resource department in the implementating phase was as follows: • • • • • Creating quality awareness across the organization Developing management support Organizing quality workshops Focusing on quality in policies, systems, procedures, etc Change in mind set
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Creating quality awareness: Implementation of any action program needs sufficient wakefulness among the people ahead of time about the plan and its advantages. Quality as a concept as well as an action plan has to be extensively communicated among the employees at all levels of the organization. The Grundfos Group Human Resources Department has assumed the responsibility for creating quality awareness among employees by organizing training programs and carrying out various communication exercises by way of briefing groups, shop floor programs, etc. in consultation and collaboration with line executives. Besides, they have prepared literature on quality in the form of pamphlets, posters, slogans, wallboards, etc.
Developing management support: Successful implementation of total quality management widely depends on acceptance by the total quality management group as a philosophy of management. To achieve this, the human resource department provided training for top management as well as key executives in the organization. According to CEO Claus Witt and CFO Peter Lærke, the human resource department succeeded in dispersing the message that total quality management is a philosophy as well as a program to the top management.
Organizing quality workshops: The human resource department has organized a considerable number of workshops for total quality management facilitators and key executives to appreciate total quality management and diffuse the message of total quality at all levels. The details of the programs conducted since the inception of total quality management in the Grundfos Group are available from table I. In these workshops, pocket books and literature on quality were supplied to the participants.
Formation of quality action teams: With a view to steering the implementation of total quality management, a number of quality action teams have been constituted in the Grundfos Group to streamline systems and procedures. These teams have taken up various projects and developed solutions for implementation. So far, 187 quality action teams have been formed in the Grundfos Group for various projects. The human resource department also assisted in the formulation of new quality friendly policies, systems, and procedures, as well as updating and rationalization of the existing ones in order to create the right kind of ambience for effective implementation of total quality management.
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Change in mind set: Not all efforts for promotion and implementation of total quality management may yield the desired result unless and until quality becomes the attitudinal propensity of employees. To this end, the human resource department put emphasis on a change in the mind set of employees. Prior to the implementation of total quality management, the attitude in the company was to put the emphasis on production and sales only, according to Jørgen Kristiansen. He adds that after the implementation of total quality management, emphasis was applied on total quality in the processes in order to render the end results qualitative. Initially, quality awareness, experiences of successful implementation of total quality management in other organizations, formation of quality action teams, and performance feed-back for taking corrective measures have all led to an imperceptible though steady change in the attitudinal dimension of the employees. Today, according to HR manager Jørgen Kristiansen, each Grundfos Group employee is committed to total quality management not as a program but as a means for his own survival. He also points out that total quality management has been linked to the endurance of the organization, and enunciation of such need has made total quality management a functional system in the organization. Thus, the attitudinal aspects of transformation coupled with total quality management being a functional system have accelerated its successful implementation.
Phase IV. Sustaining the momentum: When a company launches a new program, employees must be taught how to acclimatize behaviour patterns to benefit from the program. In this context, training is of paramount importance since it will facilitate learning of the required skills and knowledge to make the program successful as well as to sustain the momentum. In addition, effective communication is equally responsible for the success of the program. Although time consuming and costly, communication may potentially reduce employee fear associated with new role patterns, make them feel more comfortable with breaking previous routines, and develop performance consistent with total quality management effort. In the Grundfos Group, through proper training and communication, all staff are persuaded to empathize total quality management, and the implementation process has gained momentum through employee involvement and team building activities.
Training: Total quality management initiatives have stated the need for training employees (Rainbird and Maquire, 1993), (Detoro and Mcabe, 1997), (Marchington and Wilkinson, 1997), (Singh, 2000). Training plays an important role in generating awareness (Palo and Padhi, 2003),
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developing a supportive culture (Brown, 1993), building quality skills (Caudron, 1993), encouraging team building (Smith, 2003), and commitment to quality policy and strategy (Palo and Padhi, 2003). In the Grundfos Group, a well-thought out training program has been designed to provide training for executives and non-executives on total quality management. The fact is acclaimed that the training activities conducted in this organization are approximately identical to procedures generally found in the management literature on the theory of training. For instance, many writers have developed models of the training process (Arnold, 1991), (Taylor, 1989), (Storey and Sission, 1993) but basically these may be summarized so as to include four phases, i.e. those of the Assessment phase, Planning/Design phase, Implementation phase, and Evaluation phase (Oakland, 2001).
Assessment. The training needs of each employee are identified and assessed regularly, and training will then be arranged to provide and enhance skills and compensate for lack of knowledge. Identification and assessment of training needs of employees in the Grundfos Group are conducted as outlined below:
• • • •
Annual Confidential Reports in the case of non-executive employees Appraisal Reports in the case of executive employees Periodic survey by the human resource department Feed-Back by Reporting Officers and Reviewing Officers
The human resource department conducts periodic surveys in the Grundfos Group department-wise, grade-wise or position-wise with a view to identifying training needs for the staff in question. In performing this, they will circulate questionnaires among the staff for self-assessment of training needs, among reporting officers and reviewing officers for identification of training needs of employees working under them, as well as among all those concerned with assessing training requirements for effective discharge of functions. Such assessment of training needs will then be compiled, codified, and pursued.
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Planning. This stage identifies where and when the training will take place, and will involve issues such as: • • • • • • Who needs to be trained Which competencies are required How long will training take What are the expected benefits of training Who/how many will undertake the training Which resources will be needed, e.g. money, accommodation, etc.
Typically, the Grundfos Group will plan its training program annually according to the needs of the employees and of the business. It will circulate a list of available courses well in advance of the training dates. The strategic training plan will be supported by an annual budgeting and planning system.
Implementation. This implicates the actual deliverance of the training. Both the training and development center and the human resource department will organize the training programs regularly.
Evaluation. This part is commonly acknowledged as one of the most critical steps in the training process. In this part, the overall effectiveness of training is evaluated, providing feedback for the trainers, senior managers, the trainees themselves, as well as future improvements of the program. Evaluation will assume multiple forms, such as those of observation, questionnaires, interviews, etc. in the Grundfos Group.
Communication: Effective communication is a critical component in achieving business success, be it communication of the organization goals, vision, strategy and business policies, or the communication of facts, information and data (Collins and Porras, 1994), (Larkin and Larkin, 1994), (Purser and Cabana, 1997), (Yingling, 1997). Regular two-way communication particularly face-to-face with employees is identified as an important factor in establishing trust and a feeling of being valued/appreciated (Mumford and Hendricks, 1996), (Fourtou, 1997).
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In the Grundfos Group, two-way communication is regarded as a core management competency as well as a key human resource responsibility. A number of schemes have been introduced in the organization to improve interpersonal communication. These schemes include: • • • • • Workplace communication schemes, communicating the personnel executive/shift in charge directly with workshop workers. Shop-floor interaction sessions Participative forum of unions Internal department sessions Open house session with CEO
According to Jørgen Kristiansen, all these communication exercises have enabled a continuous dialogue between the individual employee and the management. A typical list of human resource department responsibilities for effective communication in the Grundfos Group to achieve total quality includes issues such as: • • • • • •
meeting people on a regular basis enhancing trust and de-emphasizing power differences between themselves and their subordinates making sure that people be briefed on key issues in language free of technical jargon communicating candidly and as fully as possible on all issues affecting their people encouraging people to suggest novel ideas persuading team members to discuss company issues and provide upward feedback
Team building: It is evident from the research that pioneering organizations place great emphasis on the worth of people working jointly in teams. This is hardly surprising as a great deal of theory and research indicates that people will be motivated and work better when part of a team. Teams will also achieve more through integrated efforts and problem-solving (Katzenbach and Smith, 1994), (Milliken, 1996), (Robie, 1997). The team-oriented work environment is an essential factor for the success of total quality management (Woods, 1993), (Dean and Bowen, 1994). In the Grundfos Group, the human resource department has organized many synergetic teams to effectively handle matters relating to total quality management. Team building is facilitated in
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various areas of functioning by the work of tailor-made workshops, technology, and teamwork, enhancing management effectiveness, etc. In the multi-union setting of the company, team building will target the managing of the plural diversity of unions and the facilitating of evaluation of joint perceptions of unions on vital issues affecting the organization.
Employee Involvement: Most people still assume that total quality is the responsibility of quality specialists. However, this belief is flawed and detrimental to realization of total quality. If it is believed that the handling of total quality management will rely solely on specialists, the organization would be attempting to pull itself up by tugging at its bootlaces (Wakhlu, 1994).
In the Grundfos Group, employee participation is promoted at all levels to cultivate commitment and involvement of employees through small group activities like those of suggestion schemes, quality circles, and other participative fora. In the area of quality circles, the following initiatives have been taken up during the years of 1995-1996 during which preparatory work was conducted for implementation of total quality management. • • • • Conducted 12 workshops on quality circle techniques for members and leaders Organized 120 exposure programs on circle concepts in various departments Annual Quality Circle Recognition function was held to falicitate the work of circle members for implementing the projects Department-wise circle functions were held during the year to recognize and motivate the employees by distributing the mementos to eligible circle members In the matter of suggestion schemes, much effort was put into the work performed by the human resource department to generate an increased number of suggestions originating from employees, such as borne out by the increasing number of suggestions received over the period from 1996-1997 until 2004-2005, as illustrated in Table 2.
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8.1 HR Department Support to Other Departments.
Partnership between the human resource department and other departments is a must to support total quality management progress. Considering that total quality management does not confine itself to any functional specification but rather to the entire business of the company. In the Grundfos Group, the human resource department played the role of facilitator, internal contractor, and hidden persuader in the implementation of total quality management in the organization. On this type of effort, human resource staff will partner with other departments to support total quality management. As a partner, they not only preached the total quality management concept but also practiced it themselves in their own functional areas, according to HR assistant, Susan Jacobsen. Companionship is the cardinal approach adospted by the human resource department in the Grundfos Group to disseminate the total quality management message. Quality action teams have been constituted in the organization with managerial personnel from cross functional disciplines as well as from the human resource department. Total quality management facilitators have been selected not only from the human resource department but also from all other departments to conduct quality workshops. Likewise, at the outset the quality policy of the organization had been discussed among all the managers, a discussion facilitated by the human resource department, and quality policies were subsequently formulated and practiced.
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8.2 HR Department as Internal Consultants
The human resource department also served as internal consultants to other departments to facilitate enhanced implementation of total quality management. The items of action taken by the human resource department as outlined below demonstrate their role as internal consultants. • • • The human resource department acted as facilitators and trainers in conducting quality workshops The human resource department will act as internal consultant in the area of cost reduction and reduction of activity cycle The human resource departmentw ill also suggest ways and means of improving the work climate
8.3 The HR Challenges Associated with Total Quality Management
Implementation of total quality management may sound like a well executed strategy in the Grundfos Group but it was not an uncomplicated experience on the part of the human resource department, according to HR manager Jørgen Kristiansen. It involved several human resource challenges to them, including those of: • • • •
motivating knowledge workers getting employee satisfaction overcoming communication barriers vastness of the organization
Motivating knowledge workers: The Grundfos Group staff are well educated as compared to the employees in similar industries, according to the files of the employees. The workers are well informed, and their hierarchy of needs in the terms of (Maslow, 1943) is not confined to physical and security needs. In fact, they have an urgent need of recognition. Motivating workers with high
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recognition needs in the direction of total quality management required an extraordinary effort on the part of human resource department. Getting staff satisfaction: Satisfaction of employees is imperative to achieve total quality management. In the Grundfos Group, staff satisfaction is elevated through various measures such as those of reward and recognition schemes, an open door policy, a fair and non-discriminatory grievance handling scheme, suggestion schemes, incentive schemes to enhance productivity, group incentives, maintenance of good working and environmental conditions, etc. In addition, attempts are being made by the human resource department to build up confidence and generate optimism in every employee so as to recognize that the job he/she is doing will be worth the effort and will lead to the achievement of total quality management. In order to ascertain the level of employee satisfaction with their work life, an organization-wide survey was conducted by the human resource department in November, 2004. From this survey, the overall satisfaction index in each division in the company was estimated separately for executives as well as for non-executives. It was presumed that if the index were less than 49, it would reflect pronounced dissatisfaction; between 50 and 69, it would manifest neither pronounced satisfaction nor dissatisfaction. However, the survey actually reflected that the employee satisfaction indexes in all the cases come to more than 70, a fact revealing the pronounced satisfaction of employees with their work life.
Overcoming communication barriers: In large organizations like those of the Grundfos Group with an extremely wide network of offices across the world, the success of implementation of total quality management will critically depend on a successful communication exercise. The human resource department has taken this up as a serious challenge, and consequently developed some communication exercises to communicate the total quality management message to the organization network. In addition, the provision of formal as well as informal channels of communication with all unions and associations has provided effective communication at all levels of personnel functionaries, according to HR manager Jørgen Kristiansen.Thus generating dialogues and discussions with unions in order to sort out issues rather than facing conflict and confrontation.
Vastness of organization: Total quality management is the responsibility of every employee, and it has to be accomplished in all aspects of action and work in the organization. If any employee fails to achieve total quality, or total quality has not been achieved in any activity or process, it has to be substantiated that total quality management is a failure in the organization. This would pose a
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challenge to managers, including those of the human resource department. The Grundfos Group is a large organization undertaking the employment of almost 14.000 employees who come from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds. It was indeed - according to HR manager Jørgen Kristiansen - a multifarious task for the human resource department to conceptualize, communicate, and convince all the employees to accept, internalize, and implement total quality management.
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9. Overall Conclusion
This thesis has aimed to contribute to the understanding of the human resource management and implementation aspects of total quality management. More specifically, the aims were those of analyzing the literature of total quality management and of generating knowledge on the human resource management task with regard to an implementation of total quality management. Three research questions were formulated to address these aims. General Research Questions Through a critical perspective to the literature of total quality management. 3. What implications are there in building a quality culture ? 4. What potential problems could arise due to an implementation ?
Research Questions In the context of the implementation of total quality management in the Grundfos Group. 2. What strategic role did the human resource management play in the implementation ?
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9.1 Implications in Building a Quality Culture
The study presented aimed at studying the implications of the building of a quality culture. The literature of total quality management recognizes the importance of human resource management with a view to building a quality culture; this discussion is, however, frequently superficial, paying little attention to how a quality culture would actually be created, while presenting fairly weak arguments in favour of a need for leadership, education, and recognition. The literature on organization culture offers some guidance on the implementation of total quality management but it does not only call attention to leadership, education, and recognition but also to human resource policies and work environment in general. One hypothesis is that the implementation of total quality management will require a matching human resource strategy design, emphasizing quantity, flexibility, and commitment. This involves the human resource management, the organization way of working, as well as the human resource policies and practices. In the research, it was found that there were two different points of view on the variation in the organization performance, one focusing on control / management of the individual, the other emphasizing improvements of the organization. But, as referred to previously, recent years have seen line of arguing for a balanced method, uniting these two points of view by focusing on the performance by the individual and by improving the system, which seems logical as human resource management is a matter of much more than just avoiding to blame the individual, and it is in conformity with human resource policies and practices to support the implementation of total quality management, recognizing that the work environment generally bears on staff commitment to continuous improvement. In this connection, it was argued that a development of a quality culture would frequently be a difficult and long-drawn process because the existing organization culture might resist the change; further, it was questioned whether culture could be controlled at all.
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9.2 Potential Problems due to Implementation
The findings in the literature revealed several potential problems which could arise due to an implementation of total quality management. The literature of total quality management frequently has a hidden implicit agenda, calling upon a top-down method for the implementation. This may underestimate the difficulties of gaining a commitment to continuous improvement in the current pluralistic industrial relation culture. The perspective between the employee and the unions should also not by ignored in the practical part of the implementation.
9.3 The Strategic Role of the Human Resource Department
The case study showed how the human resource department had played different roles as facilitator, internal contractor, and hidden persuader at different stages of the implementation of total quality management in the Grundfos Group. They assisted the top management in aligning human resource polices and quality policies, creating and communicating the total quality management concept, preparing the organization as well as the staff for the implementation of total quality management, generating quality awareness among the employees across the levels, functions, and departments, developing management support to quality action teams, organizing quality workshops, formulating quality friendly policies, systems and procedures, changing the conventional mind set of employees, organizing total quality management training programs, devising different communication exercises, encouraging team building activities, promoting employee involvement through suggestion schemes, quality circles, and other participative types of forum. In order to facilitate the total quality management progress in the company, the human resource department has made a configuration with other departments. A number of quality action teams have been constituted in the company with managerial personnel from various departments, including the human resource department. The company quality policy was also formulated in consultation with the human resource department. The human resource department in the Grundfos Group also acted as internal consultants to other departments for enhanced implementation of total quality management. The implementation of total quality management in the Grundfos Group has posed a considerable number of human resource challenges to human resource employees, such as those of motivating knowledge workers, getting employee satisfaction, overcoming communication barriers, as well as solving problems associated with the vastness of the organization.
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9.4 Final Discussion and Implications for Research
This study has shown that there is a relationship between successful implementation of total quality management and human resource management. It has also shown the human resource implications of total quality management. It has reflected the fact that the human resource tasks include basic elements in the implementation of total quality management, based on the underlying assumption that employees and managers will be forced to practice continuous improvements. The various roles which a human resource management could assume in the implementation of total quality management were presented. There were several roles from a purely administrative role view, with faint visibility towards a more strategic role, with a wide type of visibility within the organization. In this connection, various elements were brought up each of which would have a bearing on the role of the human resource management in the implementation. Overall it would seem that total quality management and human resource management have quite a lot in common and would be able to contribute successfully to the accomplishent of the organization aims.
9.5 Author’s Perspective
According to several surveys (Walker, 1992),(Ernst & Young, 1992), the commitment to total quality management and other management theory would at times seem to vanish a few years after the implementation. This might raise the question why management theory as total quality management which so far may have contributed successfully to an organization would suddenly lose its staff commitment. From the author’s point of view, this would be rather like a domino effect, one group or a minor group losing interest in the theory or program triggering the effect which would in time spread throughout the organization and eventually eliminate the theory or program. Opon this issue, one line of arguing claims that designing management theories viewing the staff as one large group or smaller groups, and not as individuals, has proven a failure. The idea behind this is that each individual will have a mind of his/her own, holding different values, familiar structures, motivation, ways of thinking, behaviour etc. These individual minds will change independently over time among employees. The perceptions of these different minds are, according to the author,
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the reason why it is not possible to bring about a different way of thinking or commitment for a protracted period of time to any theory or program. As an example, 10 employees are working in a company. One day the manager will argue that the company is in a state of crisis generated by increased competition, and in order to meet the resulting new needs the board has resolved that the company should implement total quality management. The critical factors would, according to various theories and surveys (Wiliams, 1998) help the employees to see the necessity of the change – a view held and shared by the author who refers to this as Shared Mind. But according to the author, such shared mind will change; such changes will be due to ordinary reasons, such as one of the employees having a baby, another person may be getting a divorce, on an odd chance one of the employees may be having a good relationship with the manager, a state of “affairs” possibly causing some of the other employees to start dissipating gossip about their relationship. The context is that individuals experience things as being good or bad, private or public, a manner of thinking effecting the individual mind, and consequently also the individual commitment to total quality management or to any other theory, a view going from the organization towards the employee, and not from the employee to the organization. This means, according to the author, that the manager and the board in the example above should have told the staff that it is strictly a matter of necessity that we need to increase our production because of the increased competition. So use the next seven days to design your own individual work. This would enable the guy who has just had a baby to work different hours, the divorcee would have the opportunity to work from home, and the gossip group would not exist because everyone’s needs have been met. The work designs, as prepared by the employees, should be collected by the manager group who should design the organization and structure of the production so that the organization would fit the designs deriving from the employees. When one of the employees again experiences something which might cause a change in mind, all that the employee would have to do would be to restructure a new work design, delivering it to the manager for the latter to design and structure the production according to the new work design prepared by the employee. This would, according to the author, create a staff view for the organization, and not the other way around. This is all based on the assumption that individuals are variable, and that the workplace is the invariable, and it thus seems logical to change the invariable.
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Table 1. Workshops Organized by the Human Resource Department
Number of employees covered
Year 1998-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 Number of programs conducted 135 140 145 147 123 153 130 145 Executives 1.087 1.210 1.253 1.322 1.102 1.309 1.109 1.218 Non-executives 2.502 2.621 2.970 3.208 2.989 2.678 2.879 3.102
Source: The human resource department, The Grundfos Group.
Table 2. Number of Suggenstions Received from Employees
30.000 25.000 20.000 15.000 10.000 5.000 0 1996- 1997- 1998- 1999- 2000- 2001- 2002- 2003- 20041997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Source: The human resource department, The Grundfos Group.
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Figure 1. Levels of Culture (Schein)
Figure 2. The Machting Model (Devanna, 1984)
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Figure 3. The Human Resource Management Cycle (Devanna, Fombrum and Tichy 1984)
Figure 4. The Work Environment (Oliver, 1988)
Context of actions Explicitess
Psychological state
Outcomes
Revocability
Felt resposibility / Commitment
Pressure to act in a prescribed manner
Publicity
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Figure 5. The Role of the Human Resource Function (Wilkinson and Marchington, 1994)
Strategic Level Change Agent High Profil Internal Contractor Facilitor Hidden Persuder Low Profil
Operational level
Figure 6. The Role of The Human Resource Department (The Grundfos Group)
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